More than half (54%) of Canadians who currently own residential property in the US say they are planning to sell within the next year, according to a new survey conducted by Royal LePage Real Estate Services.
Nearly two-thirds (62%) of those potential Canadian sellers blamed Trump administration trade policies with Canada as the reason for their departure while 33% cited personal and financial reasons and 5% blamed extreme weather conditions including hurricanes, flooding and forest fires.
Among the Canadians who already sold their US property within the last year, 44% cited Trump administration policies while 27% said it was for personal reasons, and 22% blamed extreme weather.
When asked if they planned to reinvest the profits from the sale of the US homes into the Canadian real estate market, almost one-third (32%) of respondents who have recently sold or are planning to sell within the next year said they would invest in Canada.
“The polarizing political climate in the United States is prompting many Canadians to reconsider how and where they spend their time and money,” said Phil Soper, president and CEO, Royal LePage. “Canadians have been the most important foreign investors in America’s residential real estate market for years, and a significant wave of property sales would leave a noticeable mark on the regional economies that snowbirds support.”
Soper added, “While wealthy buyers from China and other nations also spend a great deal on American residential real estate, purchasing expensive properties in major cities as investments, Canadians actually live in the neighborhoods where they buy. They shop locally, dine out, volunteer and join pickleball leagues. Places like Florida, Arizona and California stand to lose millions in economic activity each year – and thousands of neighbors – if Canadian owners pull their capital from US housing markets.”
The survey polled 2,500 adult residents across Canada from Aug. 4-9.
Bye-bye!
Owning real estate for the most part should be a long term investment. Any tariff or other trade policies are usually transitory but will find their equilibrium in the markets. If we all moved based on political winds we’d all be renters. When one door closes another opens. Any Canadian sold real estate will gladly be absorbed by indigenous or other foreign buyers. If we want more affordable pricing then we need more supply. I shed no tears for these Canadian sellers since they will leave for the most part with a healthy profit in their pockets. Additional supply of housing will very possibly either slightly lower prices or cut the demand appreciation levels in their particular markets. I hope that this survey and subsequent article wasn’t crafted to take hits at the Trump administration. There is great bias in the Canadian surveys since many respondents are liberal leaning and seek to inflict verbal pain to their adversaries. Whether they follow thru en mass in actually selling is a whole different question so we will see. People buy and sell based on may factors. The Trump administration woes they claim I don’t buy.