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The Canadian Effect

By Patricia Tan

I write this article as our “season” draws to a close and we bid farewell to our cool weather comrades, our snow bird visitors who mean such a lot to our communities on the west coast Florida. This year, if you feel you may have heard more Canadian accents than usual, a quick look at our real estate buyer statistics may confirm your suspicions.

In preparation for a marketing trip to Toronto, I recently reviewed the latest statistics for Canadians buying real estate in Florida and they make interesting reading.

It comes as no surprise that Canadians are the number one foreign buyer of real estate in Florida. What is surprising, however, is just how large a group they are. Canadians represent 39% of all foreign buyers who purchased property in Florida in the last year. In second place, a long way behind with 8% of the sales was Brazil, followed by Venezuela and United Kingdom, each with 7%.

Some of the characteristics of Canadian buyers:

• 91% of all Canadians paid cash to purchase their Florida homes. We know from some of the Canadian banks that some of this cash was obtained by refinancing homes in Canada, but nevertheless, this is an impressive number.

• The median price of homes purchased by Canadians was $151,500 a little lower than the Brazilian median price of $215,000 but still higher than the statewide median for all purchases, which is $134,000

• Canadians favor condos over single family homes. Two thirds of their purchases were condominiums or town homes, as they like the ability to “lock it and leave it”, safe in the knowledge that someone will be taking care of the home exterior and community while they are gone.

• 48% of Canadian home owners will reside in their Florida property for between 3 and 6 months each year. 

• Not surprisingly, when you think how Canadians use their Florida homes, 44% of Canadians purchased homes in resort areas.

• Other homes were purchased by Canadians who still have full time jobs, but realized the incredible values in the market, so they purchased homes as long term rental investments, to be used by them personally in the future as they move towards retirement.

Where are our Canadian cousins buying?  “Across Florida” would be a good summary, as the table below illustrates, but they show a definite liking for the Gulf Coast as you can see.

What might we see in the future from Canada? We see demand for Florida property continuing into the next year, but outstanding home values may be harder to find as our inventory levels tighten, and Canadians may begin to look further afield, perhaps on the east coast of Florida in some of the markets that have not began to recover as strongly as Miami and the west coast markets. Jacksonville may be a market to watch for those Canadians interested in investment returns supported by strong economic indicators. Central Florida may still provide some bargains for the investor – a quick look at Orange County listings shows me that 51% of their lower priced inventory ($200,000 and below) represents a short sale or foreclosed home, indicating that aggressive pricing may continue there for some time.  Meanwhile, here in our own backyard in Sarasota County, only 23% of homes under $200,000 are distress sales – a sure sign of a market in recovery.

Patricia Tan was born in England, and her career in international sales and marketing led her to live and work in many countries around the world before moving to Sarasota in 1997. Patricia is a Certified International Property Specialist (CIPS), Graduate Realtor Institute (GRI), and Transnational Referral Certified (TRC). She is involved in global activities of the Sarasota, Florida and National Association of Realtors, and currently serves as NAR President’s Liaison to U.K. Her real estate business operates from Coldwell Banker on St Armands Key, where her focus is to bring international buyers to the local market. She regularly makes marketing trips to Canada, Asia and Europe, to promote Florida’s Gulf Coast and the Sarasota area in particular. Patricia may be reached at 941-504-9232 or Pat@PatriciaTan.com.

Copyright © 2012 REAL Magazine

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