Hongers Scouting for properties in Canada

[Anonymous]

Hong Kongers scout properties in Canada and U.K. to escape.



As protests continue to rock Hong Kong, real estate brokers in Canada and the U.K. are fielding a flood of inquiries from investors in the former British colony who are eager to get out.



Dan Scarrow, president of Macdonald Real Estate Group in Vancouver, said many of his Chinese agents saw an uptick in interest for both sales and rentals this month from Hong Kong. One of his agents is putting off her planned retirement this year to capitalize on the opportunity.



Before, it was usually a ratio of five mainland Chinese to one Hong Kong buyer coming to open-houses, he said. "It has completely flipped now," said Scarrow. "Whether or not that actually translates into deals, that comes down to what continues to happen in Hong Kong."



People have begun scouting for properties in cities including Toronto, Vancouver and London as the unease surrounding Hong Kong's political future grows amid China's increasing influence. A drop in residential property prices is making some of these cities attractive.



"Hong Kong money could become a major source of capital," said David Ho, a broker at CBRE Ltd. who deals with Asian investments. "People are shocked, given Hong Kong was always branded as a stable, rule-of-law financial hub, and now want to move their capital to other cities to mitigate the risk and also to look for other homes."



A look at few of the markets that are of interest to the Hong Kong buyers:



Vancouver's Advantage



Vancouver, where housing prices have been in a slump for the past year, may be the first city to benefit from the upheaval in Hong Kong.



Changes in Vancouver tax laws have pushed property prices lower since 2018, Knight Frank LLP said in a report, adding that investors will also benefit from currency-adjusted discounts of 17% over the last year. Luxury homes were hit hardest by property tax changes causing the price of mansions to fall in the last few months leading to more incentives for buyers. With the city being home to a large Asian population, Vancouver is an appealing choice for many Hong Kong buyers.



"The tsunami tide of capital coming overseas in the last 10 years displaced a lot of old Hong Kong money," CBRE's Ho said. "Now, Hong Kong capital is looking at the price correction in Vancouver as an opportunity to get back in the market."



Toronto Boom



Ho's team is working on more than $400 million  worth of potential deals for the likes of high-net worth individuals and publicly listed companies who want stability and attractive yields from the city's real estate boom.



Canada's biggest city is emerging as a popular choice for commercial and residential property investors given the strength of its housing market, which is partly driven by growth in technology and financial services industries. A weaker Canadian dollar may also mean attractive yields on some deals.



"People are looking at the future, especially people who are young professionals in their late 20s or 30s," Robert Veerman, a CBRE sales representative who works with Ho, said. "They still have 50 or so years of professional life ahead of them essentially and the question is where's the market, jobs, growth going to happen?"

[Anonymous]

Canadians wealth is tied up in the value of their homes. A drop in real estate prices would be devastating to retirement plans, to borrowing, to inheritances, to everything. Absentee landlords from HK or mainland China, could be our back up plan depending how the COVID pandemic plays out.

[Anonymous]

They are already here. Anyone with resources and connections made plans and investments decades ago knowing that this day would come. The money is already here.

[Anonymous]

They are already here. Anyone with resources and connections made plans and investments decades ago knowing that this day would come. The money is already here.

There are over seven million people still in Hong Kong Mel. They aint already all there. A few with means might buy property abroad. Most will not.

[Anonymous]

They are already here. Anyone with resources and connections made plans and investments decades ago knowing that this day would come. The money is already here.

There are over seven million people still in Hong Kong Mel. They aint already all there. A few with means might buy property abroad. Most will not.

As I said, the ones who made plans are already here, financially if not physically. There is around one million Canadians in HK that may return to Canada but they are already invested in Canada so there will be no winfall from that group. The PRC has been tightening restrictions to fight currency fight, this is one of the reasons for current the hardline takeback HK. Money laundering via China and HK is drying up leaving no avenue for those not already in the game to leave. The six million HK er's who aren't already Canadian's won't have any affect on Canada's economy unless their money is already laundered in a foreign jurisdiction.

[Gaon]

They are already here. Anyone with resources and connections made plans and investments decades ago knowing that this day would come. The money is already here.

There are over seven million people still in Hong Kong Mel. They aint already all there. A few with means might buy property abroad. Most will not.

Very few will buy homes abroad. Some rich Israelis do not have total confidence in the country and buy property in Europe or America too.

[Anonymous]

Vancouver, where housing prices have been in a slump for the past year, may be the first city to benefit from the upheaval in Hong Kong.



How is this going to benefit the citizens of Vancouver? More immigrants pushing property prices up, so that ordinary Canadians can't afford them acc_angry

[Anonymous]

Vancouver, where housing prices have been in a slump for the past year, may be the first city to benefit from the upheaval in Hong Kong.

How is this going to benefit the citizens of Vancouver? More immigrants pushing property prices up, so that ordinary Canadians can't afford them acc_angry

It has already been explained to you Mel, you pathetic whining idiot.

[cc]

West Coast  pricing and sales are doing quite well ... Skeptics & yappers do not make for good advice -



 follow the actual RE sales and selling price data which is not too bad at all



That said, housing remains priced far out of the reach of most people / families and that is sad and unhealthy overall

[Gaon]

Tell me about it, we are trying to buy a house. Having said, a crash in real estate prices across Canada would be a disaster for home owners.

[cc]

I'm very aware of your situation. I was in that spot for a very long time & finally was able to get a nice place

[Anonymous]

West Coast  pricing and sales are doing quite well ... Skeptics & yappers do not make for good advice -



 follow the actual RE sales and selling price data which is not too bad at all



That said, housing remains priced far out of the reach of most people / families and that is sad and unhealthy overall

True. But, the very high end ($10 million+) is still down 20% from peak (who fucking cares) and Covid-19 foreclosures haven't hit yet ,and they will. This being said, lower end detached between $800k and $1.3m are selling well and the condo market has also rebounded. Pent up spring demand (house hunting season) due to Covid closure helps as does the reality that interest rates will remain low for a long period of time, but overall it seems good all things considered. If your employment status remained strong and you didn't sell off during DJ tank why not buy a house? I would wait until December but Lready own a house.



I agree with you on the total disfunction of the RE market, rampant casinoism at it's worst.

[Anonymous]

West Coast  pricing and sales are doing quite well ... Skeptics & yappers do not make for good advice -



 follow the actual RE sales and selling price data which is not too bad at all



That said, housing remains priced far out of the reach of most people / families and that is sad and unhealthy overall

I heard prices in Winnipeg have dropped. We are not selling until 2023, so we haven't checked mls listings since the pandemic started.