Increased Tourism Demands Make Canada Property Investment Interesting

Summary: The tourism market in Canada remains strong and healthy presenting property investors with plenty of opportunity

Whilst a slight cooling in the Canadian property market has some investors wondering if the time is right to look at Canadian real estate, tourism figures and the country’s natural draws are combining to keep confidence quite high amongst some buyers.  The Canadian property market does remain very attractive for a number of reasons; tourism happens to be one of the biggest.

If you’ve been considering picking up sticks to move to Canada or you just want to invest in its affordable property market, the signs remain positive for potential returns.  In this article, we’ll take a look at how increased tourism demands make Canada property investment interesting and we’ll examine some of the other factors that combine to make this market hold promise even in the face of a slight cooling.

According to the World Travel & Tourism Council, the Canadian tourism industry will be worth about USD 202 billion in 2007 alone.  It is expected to grow in demand by 3.7% per annum through to 2017.  Add to this the fact that Canada holds an impressive 2.9% of the world’s market share of tourism and the holidaymaking market here is clearly strong.  This is very good news for investors looking at catering to the buy-to-let market.

Whilst sales of real estate in Canada are on the downslide, the dip isn’t all that bad.  The first nine months of 2007 saw nearly 420,000 property sales.  This, as it turns out, is an actual increase of 8.4% over 2006’s figures already.  Still, the month-to-month figures are beginning to dip.  If they continue to do so, prices will likely start to dip a bit as well.

As it stands, prices in Canada are already quite attractive.  With an approximate 2-to-1 exchange rate for Brits, the average home prices of about CAD 300,000 look quite attractive.  On the buy-to-let front, investors will find promise in both the holidaymaking market and strong demand in the urbanized areas, such as Quebec, Toronto and Vancouver.  Rental yields range, depending on area and demand, but many are seeing returns of about 7%.

Some of the attractions for foreign property buyers in Canada are the same that are drawing in holidaymakers.  The country has an incredibly diverse geography that includes picturesque oceanic landscapes, breathtaking Rocky Mountain views and highly cosmopolitan cities.  Add to this the fact the expatriate community here is very large and constantly growing and the appeals are clear despite some market cooling.  Buyers here will find a British community that is more than 600,000 strong and growing, according to the BBC.

Canada does require a hop across the pond to explore, but many foreign investors are finding the atmosphere is quite inviting.  With a strong tourism industry, affordable and stable property market and a very large expat community, Canada remains appealing.  As sales dip a bit, now is likely a very good time to start investigating the potential for investing in property in Canada.

SHARE: del.icio.us   Digg   Facebook   Google   Mixx   NewsVine   StumbleUpon   Technorati   YahooMyWeb