OPINION

Canada Property Market Unaffected by U.S. Woes

Written by LiamBaileyDSR
Published January 30, 2008

As the U.S. property market continues to make the news for all the wrong reasons, Canada continues to grow into one of the best places in the world to make an overseas property investment. Advantages include low total transaction costs of between 4.7% to 11%, a moderate capital gains tax equivalent to 12.5%, no inheritance tax, and manageable rental income tax withheld by the tenant.

Also, Canada is the second largest country in the world, of a similar land-size to Russia, but the population is only a fifth the size of Russia's, meaning Canada is one of the least densely populated countries in the world. No doubt that is a factor in Canada's sustainable growth, with GDP, employment, and wages all rising strongly over the past year.

Canada's capitol, Toronto, is one of the only places in the world where rental yields on condominiums rise in line with property size, from 6.4% to 6.74%. Rental yields in Quebec's spectacular Montreal, the Paris of North America, are around the same as in Toronto, with the exception of 50-square-meter apartments which earn 7.34% per year in rental income.

Holiday lettings always offer the best yields, especially on properties with strong potential for all-year-round letting. The aforementioned Montreal and Mt Tremblant are undoubtedly two of Canada's most popular holiday destinations, but their long popularity means property prices are in the mid-high bracket; you struggle to get a decent one-bedroom apartment for under £100,000, so there is little potential to earn spectacular rental yields.

The Rouge River resort is a different story altogether. Located a short distance from both Montreal and Mt Tremblant — in between the two — properties there can be marketed to attract rentals from people coming in for both tourist-attracting destinations. You can get a one-acre plot of land on Rouge River for under £20,000 and a three-bedroom log cabin for £139,000. The lower prices means you can charge less for the rental of the property and still make a sizable rental yield.

Set on the same mountain range as Mt Tremblant, the Laurentian Mountains, Rouge River has been voted the best resort in Quebec eight years running, for its sheer beauty and for its range of all-year-round activities, including: in winter, cross-country skiing, skidooing, and ice-fishing for trout; in summer, fishing, walking, a 100-mile cycle track, and some of the most beautiful scenery to picnic in.

Proximity to Mt Tremblant and Montreal increases the range of activities, including Alpine skiing in Mt Tremblant to complement the cross-country trails on Rouge River. All these factors give property on the resort excellent all-year-round rental potential, and have experts predicting property prices will double, possibly even quadruple, in the coming years.

Liam Bailey is Media Relations Executive for overseas property specialist David Stanley Redfern Ltd., who have just started a new Overseas Property Rentals company.
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Canada Property Market Unaffected by U.S. Woes
Published: January 30, 2008
Type: Opinion
Section: Culture
Filed Under: Culture: Travel, Culture: Home and Garden, Culture: Holidays and Traditions, Culture: Business and Economics
Writer: LiamBaileyDSR
LiamBaileyDSR's BC Writer page
LiamBaileyDSR's personal site
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Comments

#1 — January 30, 2008 @ 12:36PM — Steve

Just a quick clarification...Ottawa is Canada's capital, not Toronto...which is the capital of the province of Ontario...

#2 — January 30, 2008 @ 12:52PM — Deano [URL]

Well, according to people that live in Toronto, it actually rests about six inches from the Exact Centre of the Universe.....

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