Real Estate

More Vancouverites (yes, locals) are buying condos as an investment

By Jacob Parry /

Yaletown’s iconic ring of condos: an investor’s delight

THE#BCBIZDAILY
23 per cent of homeowners in Vancouver and Toronto own a condo as an investment, up from 16 per cent last year

More condo-dwelling Canadians are buying secondary units, according to a survey of Vancouver and Toronto homeowners conducted by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation. And while more Canadians are getting involved in condo investing, “there’s not much evidence of flipping activity,” says Robyn Adamache, market analyst at the CMHC.
 
And while the bulk of buyers are in it for the long haul—60 per cent plan to hold on to their investment unit for at least five years—the pool of condo investors is widening. Twenty-three per cent of homeowners who responded to the survey reported owning a second condo, up from 16 per cent in 2014 and 17 per cent in 2013, the first year the survey was conducted.
 
The survey, conducted by the CMHC last August, asked 43,000 Canadian homeowners how long they hold on to units, how they finance their purchases, and what motivates their purchases. The main motive? Rental income, according to half of respondents. The survey looked specifically at condo investors who live in the same metro area as their investment unit, who make up 70 per cent of investors in Vancouver in Toronto (the other 30 per cent either live elsewhere in the country or abroad). 
 
And of those who own a unit in the same city, most owned one unit and planned to hold onto it for a while. “Investors in Vancouver and Toronto are generally in the market for the long term and expect to keep their last purchased secondary unit for more than five years,” says Adamache. Sixty per cent of buyers expect to hold on to their units, while only eight per cent plan to sell within the next two years. Ninety per cent of investors do not plan on buying a third or a fourth unit.
 

Read elsewhere

Checkmate: West Vancouver’s Park Royal shopping centre has a message for the motley crew of elderly chess players who patronize its food court—find somewhere else. (Vancouver Sun)

The provincial government’s effort to court Chinese companies to set up shop in B.C. is showing early gains (Vancouver Sun)