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rfmcdonaldAt the Toronto Star, Tony Wong reports that as the Canadian dollar is again approaching parity with the American and Sunbelt real estate prices are depressed, real estate in post-bubble areas is starting to look good.
As the article goes on to note, these prices do not include taxes which are often significantly higher for out-of-state visitors. But still, we are here. It looks like we are taking the John Ralston Saul observation that Canadians flock to Florida in order to find a warm place to die to heart.
Last November Stacey Lynn found herself in Florida pondering whether to buy a condominium in Naples or one in nearby Sarasota. The Toronto woman ended up buying both.
"The prices were truly amazing, especially when you factor in the exchange rate," said Lynn, explaining her splurge.
Except this wasn't for a pair of jeans. Cross-border shopping has never been this good for Canadians.
No snow. No nasty bidding wars. And condominiums for the price of a parking space in downtown Toronto.
Canadians jaded by high prices at home are increasingly looking beyond our borders as a much more muscular loonie – and a sense that prices are bottoming out south of the border – has us flexing new-found financial brawn.
Not since the Japanese started snapping up real estate in Manhattan have a group of foreign buyers been as prevalent in U.S. markets.
"There is certainly a greater confidence out there with Canadians. It's not just economic. There is a sense that we are players on the world stage, whether it's our banking institutions or more recently at the Olympics," said Philip McKernan, author of South of 49: The Canadian Guide to Buying Residential Real Estate in the United States.
Developers will be hard at work courting Canadian dollars this week as families descend on Florida, Arizona and other sun destinations for the March break.
According to a U.S.-based National Association of Realtors study of international home buying activity, Canadians were the No. 1 foreign purchasers of property in the United States in 2009. And we have also been looking farther afield in Central America and the Caribbean.
"Canadians are absolutely dumbfounded when they see the prices here," said Arnold Porter, the Canadian owner of Phoenix-based realty firm Arizona For Canadians. "You have this rare perfect storm in the United States where you have low interest rates, still falling prices and a Canadian dollar that keeps going up."
[. . .]
Lynn's 500-square-foot condominium would have sold for about $169,000 three years ago, according to Florida Home Finders.
Her second property was purchased in nearby Sarasota, a five-minute drive from Siesta Beach, considered one of the best beaches in America. Lynn purchased a 900 sq. ft. condo for $86,000. She estimates it would have cost her more than $200,000 at the peak.
As the article goes on to note, these prices do not include taxes which are often significantly higher for out-of-state visitors. But still, we are here. It looks like we are taking the John Ralston Saul observation that Canadians flock to Florida in order to find a warm place to die to heart.
