International clients are a promising opportunity for REALTORS® in Canada

Nobody reading Canadian media coverage of real estate trends can be unaware that international buyers are being identified as major players in the country's most active markets of Vancouver and Toronto. But the action is not limited to those major urban centres. In fact, international real estate transactions, whether it's offshore buyers looking at Canadian properties or Canadians buying overseas, are being conducted all across Canada, with some of the highest rates in unexpected places like Saskatchewan and New Brunswick.

While there are no government figures on how many people are coming into the country to buy property and vice versa, CREA's national membership survey revealed that some 30 percent of REALTORS® are conducting international transactions, with the bulk of those catering to foreign buyers coming into Canada. In addition, in 2014, 5% (or 1.5M monthly) of all visits to REALTOR.ca came from outside Canada, compared to 4% in 2013.

From an outbound perspective — Canadian consumers buying outside Canada — there is also a wealth of opportunities for CREA members to participate in these transactions. Looking at the US alone, Canadians purchased properties estimated at $13.8 billion in value between March 2013-2014.

CREA is embarking on additional research to better quantify the opportunity, and then will be working with organizations such the International Consortium of Real Estate Associations and the U.S. National Association of REALTORS® to help REALTORS® in Canada who want to add an international dimension to their business.