Foreign buyers a mere memory: report

November 25, 2021




Foreign homebuyers in Canada are mostly a mere memory, according to Foreign Buyers Analysis, a new report from Baker Real Estate Incorporated. This report is based on homes Baker has sold over the past 10 years.
Authored by Ben Myers, president of Bullpen Research & Consulting, the report shows that in the last 10 years, approximately 3 per cent of Baker’s 39,000 sales were to buyers from outside of Canada. Most of Baker’s sales were condominiums in the Greater Toronto Area.
The sales breakdown of foreign buyers includes 907 residents of China, 149 of the United States, 111 of Hong Kong, 26 of the United Arab Emirates, and 20 of Iran.
A total of 37,585 buyers (96.7 per cent) were residents of Canada when their deals were signed.
Most recently, through 2020, Bullpen  reports that just 1 per cent of Baker’s 2020 sales were to buyers from outside of Canada. The same metric was reported at 3 per cent in 2019, reached as high as 5 per cent in 2018.
“To date, minimal research has been published regarding new condominium buyers and where they live,” says Baker Real Estate Incorporated CEO Barbara Lawlor.
Where local purchases are concerned, Myers said, the Toronto projects had a non-resident buyer share of 4 per cent, and municipalities that had a higher percentage include Oakville, Montreal and Quebec City.”