A year after the introduction of a law in Canada prohibiting foreigners from buying housing, housing prices in the country are still high, writes CBC.Canada.The two-year ban came into force on January 1, 2023.
The average cost of real estate in Toronto is still $1.1 million, and in Vancouver it is $1.2 million. These are the data from the Toronto Regional Real Estate Council (TRREB) and the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). According to CREA, despite the fact that home sales in Canada fell in October 2023, average prices for apartments and houses increased by 1.8% compared to the same period in 2022.
The law in question was designed to suspend the purchase of housing by stateless persons of Canada, non-permanent residents and companies controlled by foreigners.However, as critics of this law say, there are so many exceptions to it that it does not actually work. In particular, the exceptions are students, as well as those who are buying a house for the first time or if the purchased property costs less than $ 500,000.
Another reason that the law did not give the expected results is that the share of transactions with foreign citizens was not so significant and amounted to only 2% in 2021.