Foreign home buyers are seeking other options since they were faced with Vancouver’s extra 15% tax burden… and Seattle is one of the favourites.
While many new residents in the city are from California where affordability is increasingly challenging, around half of foreign buyers are from Asia and may previously have opted for British Columbia.
Matthew Gardner, chief economist at Seattle’s Windermere Real Estate told the CBC that the market is frenetic.
"A lot of people who were looking in Vancouver are automatically looking further south now to Seattle," he said.
The firm has recently hosted 16 members of the China Alliance of Real Estate Agencies whose members represent more than 60% of China’s real estate sales.
While the influx is good news for the real estate industry Seattle is facing some of the issues previously seen in Vancouver including escalating prices. There are already calls for Seattle to introduce a foreign buyers’ tax.
While many new residents in the city are from California where affordability is increasingly challenging, around half of foreign buyers are from Asia and may previously have opted for British Columbia.
Matthew Gardner, chief economist at Seattle’s Windermere Real Estate told the CBC that the market is frenetic.
"A lot of people who were looking in Vancouver are automatically looking further south now to Seattle," he said.
The firm has recently hosted 16 members of the China Alliance of Real Estate Agencies whose members represent more than 60% of China’s real estate sales.
While the influx is good news for the real estate industry Seattle is facing some of the issues previously seen in Vancouver including escalating prices. There are already calls for Seattle to introduce a foreign buyers’ tax.
