Investors Are not Keen on Investing in Canadian Real Estate

Canadian forex expert Michael Ward, CEO of OzForex, says while Toronto’s real estate market is hot, investors were not too big on Canada’s real estate segment compared to markets in Europe, Spain, United States and the United Kingdom, The Financial Post reported.

“There is a good flow of money into Canada but it is not as popular as other jurisdictions like Europe, Spain. We’ve seen a lot of money going into the U.K. and into the United States,” Ward told the Post. His group helps investors save around one percent from foreign exchange transactions, which translates to big savings for million-dollar deals.

He added that most foreign investors are, in fact, wary of investing in the country and “is more concerned whether to get out of Canada.”

“We’re not real estate experts, we don’t advise [on real estate]. But there a lot more people asking ‘is this going to burst? What are you hearing?’,” Ward told the Post. “I think people are nervous, they didn’t see the Canada crash in 2008 like a lot of other markets. It’s stable but you can’t continue to have an upswing. I do think some people who are doing the research or reading the news and seeing the insights are starting to go ‘is the Toronto market’ overbought’?”

Ward also noted fluctuations in the currency market have also caused buyers to hold off on purchasing properties in Canada.

“A sale might not close for 60 days and there is a lot of volatility in the market. They want to mitigate exposure,” Ward noted.

Canadian investors, as well, are keener on investing in the U.S.

“The Canadian dollar is weak right now but take a chart back more than three years, five years, 10 years or 15 years. It’s very attractive,” he said in the report. “I think Canadians understand the foreign exchange market and where the dollar is a lot more than Americans know where the dollar is against the Euro and the British Pound.”

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