---
title: Canadians are buying more U.S. real estate than ever before
description: Canada is the second largest buyer of US real estate behind China. They are a powerhouse of buying power. Learn how to market to this valuable segment.
image: https://blog.skyad.com/hubfs/Canadian%20Real%20Estate.jpg
---

[![Sky Advertising](https://blog.skyad.com/hs-fs/hubfs/SkyAdvertising%20-Jun2017/Images/skyLogo.png?width=246&height=245&name=skyLogo.png "Sky Advertising")](http://www.skyad.com/)

- [About Us](http://www.skyad.com/#skyway)
- [Strategy](http://www.skyad.com/#meetyourgoals)
- [Solutions](http://www.skyad.com/#solutions)
- [Team](http://www.skyad.com/#ourTeam)
- [Portfolio](http://www.skyad.com/#portfolio)
- [Blog](http://www.skyad.com/#) 
    - [Real Estate](http://www.skyad.com/blog/real-estate/)
    - [Recruitment](http://www.skyad.com/blog/recruitment/)
    - [Marketing](http://www.skyad.com/blog/marketing-2/)
- [Contact Us](http://www.skyad.com/#contactus)

# Sky Real Estate Blog

Learn about the latest in traditional and digital marketing.

- [Luxury Selling & High Net Worth Buyers](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/luxury-selling-high-net-worth-buyers)

- [Advertising](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/advertising)

- [Social Media & Digital Marketing](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/social-media-digital-marketing)

# Canadians are buying more U.S. real estate than ever before

 by [Phil Kaminowitz](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/author/phil-kaminowitz)  |  January 11, 2018  | [Real Estate](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/real-estate), [canada](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/canada)  | [1 Comment](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/canadians-are-buying-more-us-real-estate-than-ever-before#comments-listing)

[![](https://blog.skyad.com/hubfs/Canadian%20Real%20Estate.jpg)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/canadians-are-buying-more-us-real-estate-than-ever-before)

When the National Association of Realtors released its 2017 Profile of International Activity in the U.S, readers were surprised to find Canada as second only to China as the key foreign investor in American real estate. According to [housingwire](https://www.housingwire.com/articles/40710-foreign-investment-in-us-real-estate-surges-49), “between April 2015 and March 2016 … Chinese buyers purchased nearly $30 billion worth of property \[while\] Canadians came in second with a record $19 billion worth of US property purchased.” This marked a 213% increase from the previous year. The real estate industry has been eager to figure out *why* Canada is motivated to purchase real estate, *what* their buying trends are, whether or not they show any signs of stopping, and how to market to Canadian buyers.

#### Why Canadians want to purchase real estate

Canadian buyers are buying US real estate first and foremost because they want what we all want—cheap homes. As markets in Vancouver and Toronto increase at an incredibly rapid rate, the United States has become an enticing alternative for Canadian investors, even though they pay a higher premium due to differing currencies. [The average home price in Vancouver was $700,380](https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/foreign-buyers-snag-record-us-real-estate/) and $603,781 in Toronto, compared to $483,400 in Seattle, a hot market by American standards.

In general, Canadians are not trying to live in their homes. Out of all foreign buyers [surveyed in the NAR report](https://www.nar.realtor/educsessmid.nsf/sphandout/IntlGuideDH2017.pdf/$File/IntlGuideDH2017.pdf), buyers from Canada were the most unlikely to live in the properties that they purchased. Therefore, the homes are mainly serving as vacation spots or simply as investments. Another reason why Canadians prefer non-resident purchases is health care; Canadians who leave their home province for greater than 182 days risk losing their state-sponsored health insurance.

It’s also important to note that Canadian investors are looking to cash out. Canada[accounted for the plurality of all foreign sales](https://therealdeal.com/2017/05/20/one-country-is-dominating-us-home-sales-to-foreign-buyers/). The rapid turnover of sales to means that when marketing to swathes of Canadian investors, highlighting the short-term profit margin is more important than generational inheritance.

#### Where Canadians want to buy

Canadian buyers tend to prefer warmer climates. Florida is the most popular destination, with 37% of all Canadian property purchases located in the sunshine state. Arizona is a distant second at 17%. Texas, California, and Georgia each made up 4%. Canadians tend to be non-resident buyers, and they use homes for vacations, so warmer climates and properties with pools tend to be preferable. However, this theory is disputed by [Stephen Punwasi for Business Insider](http://www.businessinsider.com/canada-is-dominating-us-home-sales-to-foreign-buyers-2017-5?r=UK&IR=T), who argues that “these aren’t snowbirds looking for a warm place to winter either. These are good ole \[sic\] fashioned, non-resident speculators.” In other words, Canadians’ affinity for Florida, Arizona, Texas, California, and Georgia is based on potential for quick profits more than the lifestyle associated with these locations.

#### Where and how you advertise to Canadians 

When marketing to foreign buyers, a few methods are consistently sound. Foreign buyers make extensive use of web aggregates of real estate listings such as those found on realtor.com; Patty Da Silva, owner of Green Realty Properties, [describes how the majority of her buyers from Canada found her listings online](http://www.bankrate.com/finance/real-estate/market-home-to-foreign-buyers.aspx). Other small details can go a long way—changing units of measurement to the metric system and highlighting how appliances are included (since this is not customary in many other countries)—are all useful tips. 

With regard to ad placements, a fully diversified marketing strategy should include local newspapers in Canada, regional editions of Condé Nast magazines for eastern and western Canada. It should also implement ads on local websites of national or international new companies like CNBC and The Globe and Mail. Special interest digital platforms such as ArchitecturalDigest.com, MansionGlobal.com, NYTimes.com, and Forbes.com are valuable as well.

In terms of global investment in US real estate, Canada has risen to prominence as the second-biggest player, trailing only the gargantuan economic force that is Chinese investment. [Chinese investors are threatened by increasingly stringent capital controls](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/safe-havens-for-foreign-money-in-real-estate). All eyes are on Canada to take the lead as the dominant foreign investing population. Realtors and advertising professionals are smart to optimize their marketing strategies for Canadian speculators.

Share this:

- [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share)

Search

### Recent Posts

### Archives

- [September 2019 (4)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2019/09)
- [November 2017 (3)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2017/11)
- [March 2018 (3)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2018/03)
- [October 2018 (3)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2018/10)
- [November 2019 (3)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2019/11)
- [December 2017 (2)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2017/12)
- [January 2018 (2)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2018/01)
- [May 2018 (2)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2018/05)
- [June 2018 (2)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2018/06)
- [July 2018 (2)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2018/07)
- [August 2018 (2)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2018/08)
- [September 2018 (2)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2018/09)
- [November 2018 (2)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2018/11)
- [January 2019 (2)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2019/01)
- [February 2019 (2)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2019/02)
- [March 2019 (2)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2019/03)
- [May 2019 (2)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2019/05)
- [June 2019 (2)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2019/06)
- [January 2020 (2)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2020/01)
- [February 2020 (2)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2020/02)
- [June 2016 (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2016/06)
- [July 2016 (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2016/07)
- [March 2017 (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2017/03)
- [April 2017 (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2017/04)
- [July 2017 (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2017/07)
- [August 2017 (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2017/08)
- [September 2017 (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2017/09)
- [October 2017 (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2017/10)
- [February 2018 (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2018/02)
- [April 2018 (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2018/04)
- [December 2018 (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2018/12)
- [April 2019 (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2019/04)
- [August 2019 (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2019/08)
- [October 2019 (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2019/10)
- [December 2019 (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2019/12)
- [April 2020 (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2020/04)
- [May 2020 (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/archive/2020/05)

see all

### Categories

- [Real Estate (47)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/real-estate)
- [Real Estate Marketing (34)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/real-estate-marketing)
- [real estate buyers (27)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/real-estate-buyers)
- [real estate advertising (24)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/real-estate-advertising)
- [Industry Trends (11)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/industry-trends)
- [luxury real estate agents (11)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/luxury-real-estate-agents)
- [Luxury Selling & High Net Worth Buyers (10)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/luxury-selling-high-net-worth-buyers)
- [Hot markets (6)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/hot-markets)
- [Advertising (5)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/advertising)
- [property marketing (5)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/property-marketing)
- [ads for real estate (4)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/ads-for-real-estate)
- [Real Estate Photography (3)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/real-estate-photography)
- [facebok ads (3)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/facebok-ads)
- [strategy (3)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/strategy)
- [International Strategy (2)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/international-strategy)
- [Social Media (2)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/social-media)
- [Social Media & Digital Marketing (2)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/social-media-digital-marketing)
- [UHNWI (2)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/uhnwi)
- [facebook advertising (2)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/facebook-advertising)
- [2018 trends (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/2018-trends)
- [Digital Advertising (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/digital-advertising)
- [Miami (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/miami)
- [baby boomers (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/baby-boomers)
- [banner ad (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/banner-ad)
- [banner ads (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/banner-ads)
- [canada (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/canada)
- [crisis (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/crisis)
- [cryptocurrency (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/cryptocurrency)
- [international buyers (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/international-buyers)
- [learning (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/learning)
- [listing proposals (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/listing-proposals)
- [millennials (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/millennials)
- [online marketing (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/online-marketing)
- [recruitment marketing strategy (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/recruitment-marketing-strategy)
- [sales (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/sales)
- [technology (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/technology)
- [virtual (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/virtual)
- [virtual tours (1)](https://blog.skyad.com/real-estate/topic/virtual-tours)

see all

Share this:

- [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share)

- [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/Sky-Advertising-Incorporated-75688124575/?fref=nf)
- [Twitter](https://twitter.com/SkyAdvertising7)
- [Google](https://plus.google.com/+SkyAdvertisingNewYork)

Sky Advertising, Inc. 2022