US properties popular over the border

Canadians with cash to splash have been crossing the border to snap up billions of dollars worth of USA real estate properties.

Overseas buyers have made a huge dent in property listings across the States as prices have dropped across most regions. Official figures supplied by the National Association of Realtors show that almost a quarter of all real estate purchases made by foreign buyers were made by investors from near neighbor Canada.

By the end of the financial year on 31 March total real estate sales valued at $41billion had been sold to non US residents. Almost $9.5billion was bought with Canadian money. UK property buyers were in third place. Just over 60 per cent of international buyers bought detached properties and less than 5 per cent of real estate sales involved commerical buildings.

The average price paid by foreign buyers was around $315,000 - a lot higher than the average paid by a US buyer.