The Canadian Real Estate Association recently announced that national home sales pretty much stayed the same in April. Compared to last year’s April activities, sales were 3.1% lower this year. However, the average sale price rose by 1.3% over the same time led by gains in Calgary, and parts of Ontario. The national average price for homes is now $380,588. Overall CREA maintains that the Canadian housing market remains firmly in balanced territory.
I believe real estate can be a great investment. It’s not often we hear about someone losing money consistently, long term by investing in (not flipping) homes in North America. Even in the US, despite the housing collapse in 2007/2008 average prices are now back to their mid 2003 levels. Not to mention the potential to generate rental income from them. One way to invest in real estate without a lot of money is through REITs. For people who want to buy property directly but perhaps think their city is too expensive then another option is to shop cross country or even cross border. Many investors in BC and ON for example are buying homes in AB and SK because the rental rate relative to purchase price makes more for sense for cash flow reasons.
According to a BMO study, more than 500,000 Canadians now own property in Florida. Wow, half a million. That’s like 1 in every 70 Canadians, almost hard to believe. Go Canada! We saw an investment opportunity in 2010 and 2011 and bought when prices were low. So far it seems to be paying off for us. Over the last couple of years (since April 2011) single family homes in Florida has climbed 12%. While Canadians accounted for almost 40% of all real estate purchases in Florida in 2010, we are now facing stiff competition from Asian buyers and domestic investment companies that have been scooping up hundreds of Florida’s remaining distressed properties in the last year or two.
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Random Useless Fact: Butterflies taste with their feet. Taste receptors on a butterfly’s feet help it locate dissolved sugars like fermenting fruit and other food sources.
Welcome to Florida, Canadians! We really appreciate you paying higher real estate taxes than residents and subsidizing our no state income tax lifestyle. =).
Our pleasure 😀 Properties in Canada are twice the price as a comparable home in Florida so we are getting a pretty good deal up here too. And during this process we are injecting capital into the US economy to help bolster housing prices and the economy. The world has really become quite small now compared to the olden days, and I’m happy to see it happen. People from all over the world can work together for mutual benefits 😀
That really does not surprise me about Florida. My Mom and step-dad live there and they have had a lot of their friends lose their house for one reason or another. Sadly, it’s usually medical bankruptcy related
I’ve heard stories about how unaffordable health care can be for some people in the US. Sorry to hear about all those people losing their homes 🙁 I’m very grateful for Canada’s public health care system despite its flaws and that 70% of medical services is paid privately anyhow.
greaterfool.ca
Mr. Turner is awesome isn’t he :0)
Don’t call them snowbirds for nothing. I wouldn’t think the avg. Florida home is $380k though 😉
Personally, I’d rather rent if/when I live down there for a few weeks per year. Taxes for Canadians are too much and too many headaches, it seems, although I know some great deals could have been had a couple years back.
That’s why I didn’t jump on the band wagon to buy Florida homes in 2010, it just seems like too much hassle to deal with tenants and tax rules in another country. I’m invested in the REIT called Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) and get my US real estate exposure that way 🙂
How much do you read into these statistics? Because what is quoted is usually detached homes, how applicable is this to condos?
I’m not putting too much thought into this study 🙂 I don’t know how reputable and unbiased the source is, and the condo market and detached homes are quite different for sure. My assessment this year is already lower than the one I got in 2012 :0( Oh well, maybe that means less property tax.