While there is a common perception that overseas buyers have snapped up much of the real estate in B.C.'s major cities, the number of homes in the province owned purely by non-residents is 3.7 per cent, according to a study of 2016 Census data by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), published March 12.
Including homes that are jointly owned by a mix of residents of Canada and non-residents – such as a satellite family where one spouse is resident in Canada, or a local student who jointly owns a home with their overseas parents – adds another 2.5 per cent. This brings the total proportion of B.C. homes with some “non-resident participation” to 6.2 per cent, said CMHC.
However, the proportion of non-resident ownership varies dramatically when broken out by property type and by year of construction.
![CMHC non resident ownership BC and others March 2019](https://images.glaciermedia.ca/polopoly_fs/1.23661088!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_size/cmhc-non-resident-ownership-bc-and-others-march-2019.jpg)
Just 2.6 per cent of B.C.’s single-family homes were owned entirely by foreign nationals, compared with condos, where 7.6 per cent were found to be owned entirely by overseas residents.
![CMHC non resident ownership BC property type March 2019](https://images.glaciermedia.ca/polopoly_fs/1.23661122!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_size/cmhc-non-resident-ownership-bc-property-type-march-2019.jpg)
The share of the province’s homes owned purely by overseas residents was found to increase dramatically among newer properties, rising to a peak of nearly nine per cent built in the frenzied 2016/2017 market.
![CMHC non resident ownership by build period BC March 2019](https://images.glaciermedia.ca/polopoly_fs/1.23661086!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_size/cmhc-non-resident-ownership-by-build-period-bc-march-2019.jpg)
CMHC found that the median value of homes owned by non-residents in Metro Vancouver and across B.C. was higher than the median value of homes owned by Canadian residents.
The non-resident-owned median assessment value of a single-family house in British Columbia was $236,000, or 36.7 per cent, higher than the median-valued resident-owned detached house in B.C.
The largest assessed value difference between non-resident and resident-owned detached houses is $1,580,000 (31.2 per cent) in the Metro Vancouver Electoral Area A, which includes the UBC neighbourhood and the University Endowment Lands. Vancouver proper saw the second highest value difference, at $1.1 million more than the median resident-owned detached house (22.3 per cent higher).
Aled ab Iorwerth, deputy chief economist at CMHC, said, “The data allows us to better understand the role of non-residents as a component of demand in Canadian housing markets, a topic that is of public interest in terms of the source of funds and the investment behaviour associated with such properties.”
– Joannah Connolly, Glacier Media Real Estate