4.8% of the Lower Mainland’s residential properties are foreign owned. *
Source: the Canadian Housing Statistics Program supported by StatsCan and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Download a PDF of this report.
Foreign owned means:
- A foreign owner is someone whose principal residence is outside Canada.
- A foreign owner doesn’t have to be a Canadian citizen.
Foreign Purchases
Foreign buyers tend to buy at the high end of the market. The 4.8% of owned properties represents 5.1% of the total value of Lower Mainland properties.
The numbers vary by municipality and property type. Across the region 7.9% of condos were foreign-owned; but only 3.2% of single family homes.
The percentage of foreign ownership tends to skew higher for more expensive properties. As a result:
- Vancouver City has 7.6% of all properties owned by non-residents
- West Vancouver 6.2%, but
- Maple Ridge only 2.1% and
- Surrey only 2.9%.
Contact me if you would like the full breakdown by municipality, property type, size and age.
*Note that this study does not capture properties purchased for a spouse or student, or owned by corporations with offshore shareholders; future reports will address this.
