By Jean Sorensen

An influx of offshore buyers, predominately Mainland Chinese, has caused a groundswell of real estate activity and turned the B.C. winter period into a sizzling market that shows no signs of stopping.  

“It is on fire at the moment,” says sales rep Susie Goodall of Angell Hasman and Associates Realty in Vancouver. Goodall works in the North and West Vancouver markets. Realtors say the Mainland Chinese buyers have money to spend, are motivated, often well informed and are quick to make a decision. 

Goodall will participate in the China International Luxury Property Show, to be held this year in Shanghai, China in September. “I tried to get in last year, but couldn’t,” she says. This year she is destined to be “the first Canadian Realtor to take a booth.” The show attracts international buyers and sellers from around the world who are interested in luxury properties. (A link on the show’s website offers Steven Spielberg’s $200 million yacht for weekly rentals of $1.3 million.)

Goodall has also paid a Korean company to write a software program that allows Asian buyers to tap into the MLS through her website to see what’s available in her sales areas. The interface program translates the available listings into Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean and English. “No one else has done this,” said Goodall. She says the North and West shore of Vancouver is drawing increasing attention as many shoppers realize that prices in the West Side of Vancouver (Shaughnessy, Kerrisdale and Kitsilino) have gone up dramatically but the dollar still buys good value in the North and West shoreline. Park Royal Shopping Centre also now has a Chinese supermarket.

Jennifer Podmore Russell

Jennifer Podmore Russell, real estate advisor for Deloitte, says that B.C. benefits from strong international immigration with an average of 43,000 immigrants coming to the province every year. Close to 90 per cent of these immigrants choose to live in Greater Vancouver. Recent immigration levels have been exceptionally high. The majority of immigrants coming to B.C. do so under Canada’s investor classification and almost all of those in this classification are from Mainland China. To quality for entry, they must have a proven net worth of at least $1.6 million, Russell says.

The movement to Canada is a move aimed at “preservation of capital and real estate is still believed to retain its value,” she says, adding “real estate in Vancouver, unlike other places in the world, has escalated in value.”

The investing trend is also seen by real estate lawyers such as James Lin, who has clients that buy multiple properties over the course of a year. The communist government in China has recently imposed restrictions on the number of properties that an individual can own there.

The impact of the influx of Mainland Chinese investors is being felt most in three main areas, Russell said. Richmond (has been a favoured location as it has a solid community support system), Vancouver (also with a good support system) and Burnaby (now taking some of the spill over from the two favoured areas) are seeing the heaviest demand. Offshore buyers are particularly interested in new homes. 

Russell cautions that not all the activity is the result of new money streaming into the market. “There is money pre-existing in Richmond and Vancouver,” she says. Those traditional markets have buyers who may feel more integrated and ready to move other communities or areas to make way for new immigrants. Both Vancouver and Richmond have large Asian populations.

Howard Or

While the majority of the real estate action has been in the Vancouver and Richmond area, Burnaby and the suburban areas can’t be ignored. Howard Or, assistant manager of Sutton Group – West Coast Realty in Coquitlam, is seeing Asian buyers looking for newer, larger homes around five years old or less. “It’s mainly the high-end homes – those selling for $1 million or $1.2 up in areas such as Westwood Plateau,” he says.  

Or advertises in the Chinese language paper Sing Pao Daily, which also has a Chinese website, providing international Internet access for readers. Or says this allows many China-based buyers to peruse the real estate ads here before coming over, so many are already aware of what the market offers before knocking on the door of a real estate office. “They also make decisions much faster,” says Or, adding it doesn’t take more than one or two visits before the client has decided to buy.

Real estate lawyer Florence T. Wong, who also hosts a talk show on a Chinese language station, says callers are telling her that White Rock has become a popular location, not only because of its ocean views but because it is known to have an excellent school system.

Real estate lawyer Lin said it is not uncommon for those buying homes here to leave the family here to gain an education while the father returns to China, where there are more entrepreneurial opportunities as China changes. These individuals will commute every three months back and forth and are dubbed “astronauts” because of the hours they spend in aircraft.

Susie Goodall

Goodall, who has honed a business out of dealing with Asian and Mainland Chinese buyers, couldn’t be happier with the market today. Asian buyers are ideal clients, she says, because they are eager buyers and demonstrate strong family values and concerns. “I love dealing with them,” she says.