Immigrants help power property market: survey

TORONTO Newcomers to Canada account for more than a fifth of the housing market, helping boost real estate in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia, says a new survey.

Immigrants buy 21 per cent of houses and may purchase 680,000 homes during the next five years if migration levels are maintained, the poll commissioned by Royal LePage shows.

“In addition to supporting Canada’s economic growth, newcomers to Canada are vital to the health of our national real estate market,” Phil Soper, Royal LePage president and CEO, said in a statement. “Newcomers are doing more than investing in Canadian real estate, they are investing in their family’s future.”

The survey lands as the country’s housing markets rebound from the imposition of tighter mortgage rules over the past two years that were brought in to limit speculation and soaring prices in markets such as Vancouver and Toronto.

Prices have fallen in Vancouver and increases slowed in Toronto, but their markets are gathering steam again.

The poll of 1,500 people who arrived in Canada in the past 10 years found more than half of newcomers — 54 per cent — chose Canada because it’s a good place to live and work, while three-quarters said they didn’t consider moving to the U.S., with 31 per cent citing a better reception for immigrants in Canada.