Chinese Crave Vancouver’s Luxury Homes

It is a day ending in ‘y’ and so we have yet another story detailing wealthy Chinese buyers seemingly endless appetite for Vancouver real estate. More: Vancouver’s International Appeal The Globe and Mail details a new report from British Columbia-based realtor Macdonald Realty Ltd. that found that mainland Chinese buyers were responsible for 70% of the firm’s luxury home sales (defined as CDN$3 million, or US$2.3 million, and above) in 2014. And it appears that Chinese buyers are focused on high-end homes in Canada’s western capital. According to the MacDonald report, the percentage of Chinese buyers drops precipitously as home prices decline, with Chinese buyers accounting for just 21% of purchases of homes between CDN$1 and $CDN3 million and 11% of homes under CDN$1 million. More: Vancouver, Miami and Sydney Lead Luxury-Price Growth Macdonald vice-president Dan Scarrow takes these findings as evidence that while Chinese buyers are having a profound effect in shaping Vancouver’s luxury market, their effect on the entry-level home market, the source of much public consternation, has been greatly overstated. The unaffordability issues with the entry-level home market Scarrow attributes “almost entirely of a lack of supply and low interest rates.” [The Globe and Mail]View full listing (pictured top)