U.S. foreclosures are creating opportunities for Canadians

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Glendale, Arizona

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U.S. foreclosures are creating opportunities for Canadians

Posted at Debra Allen Real Estate Blog by Debra Allen

Oct. 23, 2008

Tagged with: alberta, bargains, canada, foreclosures, gated communities, loonie, opportunity, real estate, toronto, vancouver

Starred by: 1 Member

U.S. foreclosures are creating opportunities for Canadians

Canadians considering taking advantage of the exchange rate with

the U.S. dollar and buying real estate south of the border should keep a close eye on the strengthening greenback.

With the Canadian dollar trading at around 93 cents to the US dollar, snowbirds may want to buy sooner rather than later, “If the U.S. dollar gains back even half of what it has lost, investors in Canada will lose significant purchase power,” adding that the U.S. Federal Reserve may also boost prime interest rates toward off inflation, further could be damaging the Loonie’s value.

“If an investor doesn’t buy right away, they may miss a great opportunity,” “The U.S. dollar’s comeback is at its very early stages, but it is a trend we are seeing. We already see the slow down in European countries.”

Canadian consumers, who have been going south to buy up real estate during the recent American economic slowdown, have been buying homes at record low prices. Snow birds would normally stay 3-4 months and would rent a condo or home, last year we began seeing an increase in behavior in Canadian buyers purchasing homes in various areas of the US, instead of renting them.

They come from three markets: Toronto, which targets mostly Floridian properties; Alberta, where buyers trend to go to Arizona and Nevada; and Vancouver, where high-end clients look to Washington state or Hawaii.

We have seen another dramatic move in the exchange rate between Canadian dollars and US dollars. As you may know, the financial markets have seen some very turbulent times in recent months, and this has played havoc with the currency markets, as well.

The Canadian dollar is based a lot on commodities— and commodities are down.”

The Loonie has slightly declined compared to the U.S. dollar after being above parity since the slow down in the US Economy. So now is the Time to BUY!

10/28/2008 Update:

The Canadian dollar has moved more than 7 percent in a single day, from close to the .7700 (1.3000) level to .8240 (1.2140) today. This means that a $200,000 US dollar property just became about $17,000 Canadian dollars less expensive for your clients!

In light of recent currency moves out of Canadians’ favor, this could be a good point to bring up with any of you Canadian buyers. It’s a great dose of good news in a market that has been void of positive reports for quite some time.