Foreign ownership highest in downtown Vancouver condos: CMHC report

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Metro Vancouver ranks second behind Toronto for foreign buyers
By Bruce Constantineau, Vancouver Sun
Foreign residents own nearly six per cent of downtown Vancouver condominiums and 2.3 per cent of condos in the Metro Vancouver region, according to a Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. survey. The survey — part of CMHC’s fall rental market report — found that 5.8 per cent of condominium units in the Burrard Peninsula were owned by foreign buyers, compared with 3.4 per cent in the entire City of Vancouver.

Photograph by: Arlen Redekop , Vancouver Sun

Foreign residents own nearly six per cent of downtown Vancouver condominiums and 2.3 per cent of condos in the Metro Vancouver region, according to a Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. survey.
The survey — part of CMHC’s fall rental market report — found that 5.8 per cent of condominium units in the Burrard Peninsula were owned by foreign buyers, compared with 3.4 per cent in the entire City of Vancouver.
While conventional anecdotal information might suggest those foreign ownership numbers are too small, CMHC regional economist Carol Frketich said the statistics for Vancouver seem reasonable when compared with other “preliminary looks” at that kind of information.
“When you spread it over the larger area, the number is lower than what the anecdotal consensus might suggest,” she said.
But a 2014 survey of 13 downtown Vancouver condo buildings by Vancouver condo marketer Bob Rennie found that 12 per cent of the 3,515 units in those buildings — representing about 10 per cent of the downtown market — were owned by foreign residents.
The highest percentage of foreign buyers — 30 per cent — was found in the Cascina and Denia towers on Nicola and Broughton streets.
The lowest percentage — five per cent — occurred in the Electra building at Burrard and Nelson.
“I think the foreign ownership number will increase slightly in the future but it’s growing more on the single-family home side, rather than the condo side of things,” Rennie said. “For the most part, foreign money is not buying for speculation. They want to end up living here.”
The CMHC telephone survey of condo building owners, property managers and supervisors — conducted in the first two weeks of October — also found that 2.4 per cent of Metro Toronto units (including 4.3 per cent in the city centre), 1.5 per cent of Metro Montreal condos (including 6.9 per cent in the downtown core) and 1.1 per cent of Victoria condominiums were owned by foreign buyers.
Every other Canadian market surveyed fell below the one-per-cent mark when it came to foreign residents owning condo units.
The rental market report said Metro Vancouver’s apartment vacancy rate fell to one per cent in October from 1.7 per cent in October 2013. The vacancy rate in Metro Victoria fell to 1.5 per cent from 2.8 per cent a year earlier while the rate in Metro Kelowna fell to one per cent from 1.8 per cent in October 2013.
The average rent for a Metro Vancouver two-bedroom apartment rose from $1,281 to $1,311 in the past year, while Victoria’s average rent climbed from $1,068 to $1,095.
bconstantineau@vancouversun.com
FOREIGN OWNERSHIP OF CONDO UNITS (metropolitan regions)
Toronto 2.4%
Vancouver 2.3%
Montreal 1.5%
Victoria 1.1%
Ottawa 0.7%
Quebec 0.6%
Saskatoon 0.3%
Calgary 0.2%
Edmonton 0.1%
Regina 0.1%
Winnipeg 0.1%
Source: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
Original source: The Vancouver Sun
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