The Canadian Snowbirds of Detroit
Canadians still love snapping up cheap U.S. real estate, but we’ve traded Florida for Vegas and Detroit.
A man walks past a vacant, boarded-up home surrounded by overgrown grass in a once vibrant neighborhood, near downtown Detroit, Michigan July 19, 2013. Investors dumped Detroit’s municipal bonds a day after the city’s historic bankruptcy filing even as a ruling in state court raised questions about whether the bankruptcy will stand up to court review. Attempts by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and Detroit’s Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr to put a positive spin on the filing failed to reassure investors. Prices on some Detroit bonds plunged and there were wider declines in the $3.7 trillion U.S. municipal bond market. REUTERS/ Rebecca Cook (UNITED STATES – Tags: BUSINESS POLITICS) – RTX11SDF
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It’s no secret that Canadians have been buying a storm of real estate south of the border since the U.S. housing market collapsed. Many are snowbirds, who have long headed to the warm climates of Florida and Arizona.
But it seems we’re setting our sights elsewhere these days. The U.S. National Association of Realtors examined the cities that most interested Canadians who browed the real estate listing on its Realtor.org website. Turns out we’re really interested in buying property in Las Vegas and — of all places — Detroit.
Canadians now do more searches for real estate in those two cities, along with Los Angeles, than they do of properties in Florida, although we’re still big fans of the Sunshine state:
Maybe that’s because for less than the average price of a house in the Greater Toronto Area, you can buy this 6,000 sq.-ft., six-bedroom, six bathroom mansion in Detroit:
The full study on Canadian real estate habits in the U.S. can be found here.