Chinese buyers: Only 14% eye Canada

March 5, 2018

Even before the B.C. government boosted the foreign-buyer tax from 15 per cent to 20 per cent and expanded it across southern British Columbia this month, interest from China-based buyers towards Canada was waning, according to a survey by Juwai.com.
The percentage of Chinese buyers now looking at Canada has dropped by at least 10 per cent from 2016, when Canada was ranked the third most popular destination.
Juwai is the largest online real estate portal in China that lists foreign property for sale. The company surveyed Chinese residents who were planning overseas trips to celebrate Chinese New Year—the Year of the Dog.
Of those surveyed, 77 per cent said they were considering buying overseas property. But when asked where they wanted to buy, Canada was chosen by only 14 per cent, compared with 26 per cent choosing the United States, 19 per cent choosing Australia, 18 per cent choosing other Asian countries, and 11 per cent choosing European countries.
This week Juwai.com continued to have many Canadian homes listed for sale, including four dozen in Vancouver and more than 100 in the Montreal region.