China’s stock market chaos could have big implications on Metro Vancouver real estate
Posted January 7, 2016 12:58 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – With China experiencing stock market turmoil, more investment from that country could be coming for our region’s housing.
Chinese investors will look to further diversify, according to Derek Holt with Scotia Economics, and that could include pumping even more money into the housing sector here in Metro Vancouver.
“One way in which they can do that is by feeding the ongoing if not greater foreign purchases of real estate, including in markets in Vancouver,” says Holt.
With our dollar in the dumpster, the allure of Canada specifically is even higher, says economist Werner Antweiler with the Sauder School of Business.
“The yuan has been depreciating, but the Canadian dollar has been depreciating even faster,” says Antweiler. “That has meant it’s actually cheaper to buy the Canadian dollar for someone in China than it was a few years ago. If you go back to 2010, you had to spend about 6.5 yuan, and today that number has fallen to 4.75. It becomes much more attractive to put money into the market in Canada, because essentially it’s cheaper because of the exchange rate.”
That said, professor Tsur Somerville, also with UBC’s Sauder School of Business, says there’s also a chance we could see less money coming out of that country and into ours if there’s a major erosion of wealth or if that country’s government shuts the door on money leaving its borders.
