Despite the Interest, Foreign Investors are Still not Rushing to Montreal and Calgary

The application of foreign home purchasers’ taxes in Toronto and Vancouver has attracted much industry speculation and report of Montreal and Calgary as the next big home investment targets.
Nonetheless, market players and local brokers have found out that so far, existing interest as expressed in pre-purchase questions and online research does not seem to change in to actual transaction volumes.
Brad Lamb a Real Estate developer declared that he was met with obstacles stimulating Chinese interest in Edmonton and Calgary (the latter which at the moment is laboring under an overabundance of unsold condominiums) via posting enumerations or listings of developments in these cities.
“They will have their kick at Montreal and perhaps Calgary, but they will never get to the level of Vancouver and Toronto,” Lamp stated, as quoted by Globe and Mail. “I have to tell you, it has been a huge waste of time.”
And as Montreal and Calgary have amenities and post-secondary school, that might be a pull factor to foreign families and students, in both cities Asian populations are not that big. In Montreal precisely, the ability to read and text in both English and French for full participation in the civil society and economic system of the city stands as a big obstacle to entry.
Yu Li, a Montreal-based agent works primarily with Mandarin and Cantonese-customers, but he said that as many of them have shown concern on the city’s luxury houses and recently-constructed condo high increases, he still doesn’t notice any significant upward movement in the Asian businessmen in the near future.
“I do not see a bubble forming. It will take to an extent a few years before it gets to a true sellers’ market balanced out with purchasers,” Li explained, adding that most of his customers are very much interested in the housing market in Montreal due to its affordability.