Top 5 Tips for Canadian Real Estate Investors In 2019

Canada remains one of the world’s major real estate markets, though today and in 2019 it’s all about trying to navigate through uncertainty. Real estate in Canada is constantly affected by factors that aren’t always easy to predict. These include technological changes, social change, new official regulations, and economic circumstances.

Still, many real estate experts do have their opinions as to what real estate investors should be doing for the following year. Here are some of their tips:

Multifamily Market

Right now, multifamily housing is one of the better bets in the market today. That’s because single-family housing has become so expensive that the potential consumer base for these homes is much smaller than the number of apartment renters and condo buyers.

Buying a condo is simply much more affordable for many young workers and families. Houses have become too expensive, with homes in Vancouver, for example, expected to reach a median price of $1.2 million. Toronto home prices aren’t cheap as well, with median prices predicted to increase to more than $840,000.

Condos are safer investments with the constant demand. It’s not just about the affordability. It’s also a lifestyle choice for many. Condos are often located near many commercial areas, and these buildings come with amenities like gyms and swimming pools that urban workers appreciate. The condo can also be near work, and the fact that they may even walk to work or just take a short commute can be quite an alluring prospect.

Finally, unlike homes condos are easier to rent out. Investors won’t have to wait for a year before they sell the property at a profit. Yes, they can wait a year and the value of the unit will increase, but meanwhile they can generate income through rent.

Warehouses and Fulfillment Spaces

There’s a greater need for e-commerce facilities and last-mile delivery, and so some investors are focusing on logistics and fulfillment for their Canadian real estate investment. It’s a very promising sector, as potential tenants are constantly looking for larger warehouses, the vacancy rates are dropping, and rents are becoming higher.

Development for such spaces is now ongoing, especially in the Greater Toronto Area where the tech sector is booming. But it’s a nationwide development, and such warehouses will be valuable anywhere in the country.

In some cases, more innovative means of creating revenue have been proposed for this sector. These include enabling companies to make use of properties as warehouses to fulfill temporary needs, such as during the holiday sales.

Senior Lifestyle Housing

Some investors are concentrating on providing age-restricted housing, with senior citizens as tenants. That’s because there are more Canadians older than 65 than there are children younger than 16. Many of the seniors, especially those older than 85 years old, have professed a preference for collective housing with their peers.

Invest in Montreal

Montreal has always been a major Canadian real estate market, though many have considered it behind the market in Toronto and Vancouver. But it is now gaining ground as a truly viable alternative thanks to regulations in the other 2 cities that are slowing down growth and foreign investment.

The new rules on foreign investment have encouraged Chinese investors to look to Montreal instead, where there aren’t (so far) any new taxes specifically on foreign investors. The Montreal market looks appealing for 2019, with a predicted 3% growth compared to 1.3% in Toronto and 0.6% in Vancouver.
Investors also don’t need as much money to buy a home to invest in the Montreal market, as home prices are expected to reach only about $421,000 in 2019.

Invest in Kelowna, B.C

Kelowna is regarded as an undervalued real estate market, so investors are encouraged to get ahead before the main bulk of investors realize its true value. It’s the largest metropolitan area between Calgary and Vancouver, and its tech sector is worth $1.3 billion. It has ski resorts, vineyards, and a temperate climate. It even outperformed almost every other city in B.C. in the number of new homes started in 2017. These cities include Victoria, which has 3 times the population of Kelowna.