Canadians top
the list of foreigners buying properties in the Unites States. The precarious
US real estate market and low home prices are encouraging more and more Canadian
investors to purchase property in their neighbor country.
The sunshine
state of Florida especially has witnessed a large influx of Canadian investors
who are scooping up land and houses at massive discounts. According to a report,
CEO of Bayshore Capital, Toronto, Henry Wolfond recently purchased 3.82 acres
of Daytona Beach property at a bargain price of $2.5 million.
The original owner
had bought the property for $23 million just four years back. Not only does
this symbolize the huge buying opportunity for foreign investors, it also
indicates just how severely the US real estate market has nose-dived.
With close to
23% of United States homes underwater (market value of homes less than outstanding
mortgage) and the highest percentage of below poverty-line Americans since the last
fifteen years, the near future of the real estate market looks bleak.
It is widely
believed that until employment levels in the country improve, there is no hope
for the housing market.
Even as
American homeowners, mortgage lenders
and developers face financial struggles, Canadian developers are not only
buying US property but also building new homes in depressed states. Major
Canadian homebuilder Minto bought a huge tract of land in Sun City, Tampa for about
$10 million in mid-2010 and plans to build a sales center and well as new
homes. Some, like Wolfond, are optimistic about the Florida real estate market
and expect a turnaround in the next few years.
