Advertisement

Why more Chinese investors are buying Calgary real estate

Click to play video: 'Why more Chinese people are buying Calgary real estate'
Why more Chinese people are buying Calgary real estate
WATCH ABOVE: Global's Gary Bobrovitz talks to the Calgary Real Estate Board and a local agent to find out why Chinese buyers are putting their money in Calgary real estate – Aug 18, 2016

Chinese investment in the Calgary real estate market isn’t new, but some say the trend is on the rise due to an overheated Vancouver market and bargains caused by soft oil prices.

There are hundreds of listings in Calgary on Juwai, China’s largest international property website for buyers.

According to one Calgary realtor, an increasing number of foreign buyers are purchasing such properties—and they’re not speculators.

“People are buying houses here,” Greater Calgary Real Estate agent Hong Wang said. “They’re not buying a $2-million house and letting it sit empty. There are people honestly wanting to have connections. Already their children are studying here and they are planning to immigrate here and they want to buy a house for their children and buy a house for themselves, things like that.”

Get expert insights, Q&A on markets, housing, inflation, and personal finance information delivered to you every Saturday.

Get weekly money news

Get expert insights, Q&A on markets, housing, inflation, and personal finance information delivered to you every Saturday.
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Vancouver recently instituted a 15 per cent tax on real estate deals to try to curb a red-hot market driven up by Chinese buyers. But that’s not pushing large Asian capital here, according to some realtors.

Story continues below advertisement

READ MORE: Is the Metro Vancouver real estate market in free fall?

Instead, they say smaller buyers are moving money to the city for other options.

The Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB) says Chinese investors find Calgary’s market more attractive for several reasons: the prices are a lot cheaper than Vancouver, Calgary has nearby tourist attractions like Banff and the Rocky Mountains and there have been improvements in accessibility to Calgary from mainland China in the last year.

“Three direct flights from China coming in a week now…we’ve become a much more accessible destination for people that are foreign buyers,” CREB president Cliff Stevenson said. “It should be noted that the U.K. and U.S. have been big sources for customers for places like Canmore for quite some time, so to have another country that has direct access…I think it’s safe to say in the future we would probably see some foreign investment from that.”

CREB says there are over 6,000 real estate listings currently on the market—the highest number in the last five years.

Realtors expect more Chinese buyers will come to Calgary in the future, especially if the price of oil rebounds.

With files from Erika Tucker

Sponsored content

AdChoices