Real estate abroad: Would Canada become a temptation ?
18/11/2019

The province of Quebec, would it become the new real estate eldorado ?

Encouraged by a favorable exchange rate and much wiser prices than in the other provinces, more and more French buyers are enjoying the charms of Canadian stone.

Buy real estate in Canada to live in, install your student child or even to diversify your real estate rental. Especially the French who are more numerous to take the step in this other great country of North America. Consular authorities account for 80,900 of our nationals, almost double the number of 10 years ago, and nearly 3,000 to 4,000 new arrivals land each year.

Meanwhile, Greater Montreal is attracting more and more foreigners: one in five shoppers are immigrants. More than ever, they are ready to take out the checkbook. The luxury real estate market in Greater Montreal has never looked so good. The offer continues to grow. For good reason, the Montreal market is now benefiting from the slowdown in Vancouver and Toronto, two cities that are now imposing additional taxes on buyers coming from abroad.

In Canada, the province of Quebec occupies a share of real estate. "In Montreal, the stone is three times cheaper than in the large English-speaking Canadian cities such as Vancouver or Toronto whose prices have soared, due in particular to a strong presence of Asian investors. They have placed plenty of cash and left their new homes empty, "says Benjamin Guillou-Nisin, real estate broker.

The most recent statistics published by the APCIQ also reveal that the residential real estate market in the province of Quebec is also doing very well. Thus, 21,662 resales were realized in Quebec from July to September 2019.

For the past fifteen years, the Greater Quebec City region has experienced a frankly surprising economic boom that eludes easy explanation. It is important to look for Québec's success in terms of size and location, which, combined with competitive costs, allowed it to take full advantage of the more general trends favoring medium-sized cities, particularly for medium-technology activities.

As for Montreal, "it's the most affordable big city in Canada, and one of the most affordable in North America," says the CFIQ's analyst director.

According to the expert, the Montreal real estate market benefits from a well diversified economy. Not being dependent on the price of a resource, such as oil, Montreal is less affected by economic turmoil. This explains in particular the almost continuous growth of the values of its properties over the past 35 years.

In Toronto, prices rose 7% a year, a higher point in Montreal, but the queen city spoiled three years of significant declines of more than 5%. Same thing in Vancouver and Calgary.