While America Mortgages has clients from most countries globally, Canada by far is where most of our clients come from.
This is consistent with public information released by the National Association of Realtors; in year-ended March 2020, Canadian’s purchased $9.5B of U.S. residential real estate!
If we assume an average home price of $500,000, that equates to a staggering 19,000 home purchases!
As the top U.S. mortgage specialist specifically focused only on Expats and Foreign Nationals living in Canada, the customer data we have would be considered as the best representation of “real” demand.
In this article, we wanted to dig a little deeper into where they are buying and why.
Here is our data over the past 12 months for Canadian buyers:
- – Loans funded: 137
- – Average loan amount: $460,000
- – Client location: Ontario 52%, Vancouver 33%, Edmonton 5%, Montreal 3%, Others 7%
- – Top 3 purchase locations: Orlando, FL; Atlanta, GA; Charlotte, NC
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a natural fit for Canadians, especially those living in Ontario. They share the same time zone, and it’s only a 3-hour flight from Toronto to Orlando. It’s no secret that winters in Canada (and especially Toronto) can be long and harsh, which is why many choose to buy second homes in Florida to escape the cold. Of course, Orlando’s reputation for being an affordable location with social and economic benefits also helps with its popularity. The average home price in Orlando is $293,000 vs C$870,000 for an average home in Toronto. With tourism and job market growth in leisure and hospitality at their highs, it’s no wonder Forbes ranked Orlando as their #1 Best Place to Buy a House 3 years in a row.
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ticks many boxes and is an underappreciated place for many but offers great value for those looking to take advantage of the recent demographic shift inwards for coastal cities. A little unknown fact is that the Atlanta International Airport is the busiest airport in the world, with over 110 million passengers a year! Beijing #2 at 100 million passengers (2019). Let that sink in a little. A city of 500,000 people has the world’s busiest airport. That is because geographically, it’s perfectly located as a travel hub and hence a growing trend for companies to expand their headquarters there – like Google and Blackrock. Meanwhile, the population growing by 12.18% in the last 8 years – 111% faster than the national average of 5.76%. That also means the area’s annual job growth has risen to the rate of 2.15%. Affordability is a key driver for many real estate investors looking for a strong rental yield. The median purchase price of a 3 bedroom single family home at only $190,000, 15% lower than the national average of $222,000.
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is not an obvious choice to own property in, but digging a little deeper, we found that it has been one of the best cities to own real estate over the past 10 years. The supply of homes is at a 17 year low, 8 years of home price increases with no signs of slowing down. Another fact that surprises many is that Charlotte has the second-most banking assets after New York City, with Bank of America and Wells Fargo having their regional headquarters there. Meanwhile, CNBC recognizes Charlotte as the third-best city in the country to start a business.
It was also surprising to find out from our clients in Canada that Toronto was only a 2-hour direct flight from Charlotte!
How America Mortgages can help…
Unlike a traditional bank, which can only show you their own bank programs, which are by definition rigid and hard to qualify for, we are a solutions provider. We understand your requirements and suggest several loan options that best suit your requirements; this could be from banks or wholesale lenders, which are unknown by many accounts for 70% of the mortgage lending market. For example, if you are an entrepreneur, you can almost assume you would not be able to qualify for a bank loan. The trouble is banks will drag this on for 3-4 months before rejecting your loan. Our Loan Officers are all experts working with Foreign National and Overseas Expat clients – that is all we do! When you tell us your requirements, we already know from our database of 150 U.S. lender programs that best suits your needs. (Also see Can a Canadian Buy a House in the USA?)
For more details, please visit us at www.americamortgages.com
