While headlines across the country tell stories of the new Mainland Chinese buyer snapping up Canadian real estate, one realtor has decided to go direct to the buyers in China instead of waiting for them to come here.
A few months ago, Vancouver-based Cam Good, president of real estate marketing company The Key, set up the first Canadian-owned real estate office in Beijing, with a staff of two.
He has sold hundreds of homes to Chinese buyers, who are eager to buy in Vancouver and Toronto. The influx of Mainland Chinese to Vancouver is just as great in Toronto, says Good, which means property values are likely to rise in both markets.
* Gallery: Where Chinese investors are snapping up property
"We've sold over 800 homes so far this year, and it's only April — I think that puts us at No. 1 in the country in terms of volume," says Good, who estimates that 60 per cent of his clientele are from China. "I can't give you specifics, because it's fiercely competitive right now. Every developer is going over, trying to figure it out. One developer I met this week spent around $1.5 million in marketing over there, without results. It's definitely hit and miss. But we struck gold. I am just a bit ahead of the crowd."
For Canadians who already own property, it's money in the bank because the drive for real estate will push prices and property values higher. For realtors, the new market is a godsend. For working class and middle class locals who are already feeling pushed out of the market, however, not so much. In a market like Vancouver or Toronto, where the middle class demographic is drastically shrinking, affordability is already an issue.
"About 70 per cent of Canadians own, and we are much better off because of the Chinese demand on our real estate," Good adds. "Homes are worth more, businesses are worth more."
It took eight months and a lot of bureaucratic wrangling to set up the Beijing operation, and so far it was well worth the effort. The Chinese market is buying up real estate in Vancouver, Richmond, Coquitlam, White Rock, downtown Toronto, Etobicoke, Oakville, and generally anywhere nice and near water. The Chinese buyer generally pays for homes outright, without getting a mortgage. Good's projects, such as Westlake Village in Etobicoke and Avra in White Rock, are mostly presales. The best marketing tool he has are the Chinese people who have already immigrated to Canada in the past decade. They are spreading the word back home about suburban enclaves such as Coquitlam, a half hour drive from central Vancouver.
