Chinese buyers look beyond Vancouver to Montreal's real estate market

An increasing numberofChinese buyers are showing an interest in Montreal,drawn by therelatively affordable housing market compared to Toronto and Vancouver, real estate agents say.

Dominic St-Pierre, senior director ofRoyal LePage for the Quebec region, said the bulk of buyers are purchasing inexpensivecondos not high-priced homes.

"People assume that it's going to be luxury buyers, but the main interest is low-level condos," he said.

"It's not all the Chinese buyers that are extremely, extremely rich."

For now,St-Pierre said, what's happening inMontreal isn't anywhere close to what's unfolded in Vancouver, which recently introduced a foreign buyer tax in an attempt to slow growth.

Of the luxury propertiesdefined as those that sell for more than$1.5 millionsold last year,only about one per centwere purchased by a Chinese buyer, he said.

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"We don't think it's going to be much more in 2016," St-Pierre said.

According to a recent survey by theCanada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, residents of theUnited States and France accounted for the majority offoreign buyers in Montreal, while China accounted for eight per centand Saudi Arabia accounted forfive per cent.

There are two types of Chinese buyers, St-Pierre said:those looking to move here or get a place for one of their children, and those who "are just purely investors and hoping to make a profit."

Growing link with China

St-Pierre suggested a newdirect flight linkingMontreal and Beijing, established in September 2015, may have contributed to theincreased presence of potentialbuyers from China.

He cautioned, however, that "we're very far from a hot market," adding that the newmortgage rules will likely temper purchases.

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Overall, Montreal's housing market strengthened over the past year, with the average price of a home increasing 4.9 per cent to $352,798, a Royal Lepage survey released Thursday said.

According to the survey, the median price of atwo-storeyhome in the Montreal area increased by 5.7 per cent in the third quarter compared to the same quarter in 2015, reaching $443,239, while the median price of a bungalow increased by 3.2 per cent to $287,198.

The findings come just one day after federal Finance Minister Bill Morneautoutednew measures to stabilize housing prices across the country, including limiting foreign money coming into Canadian real estate.

Those measures also includea new "stress test" for insured mortgagesto make sure borrowers are still able to make their payments ifthe big banks' five-year posted mortgage rates climb.

"We need to stay focused on the risk to Canadian families in housing," Morneau said.

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