Foreign condominium ownership moves down compared to last year

OTTAWA — A report by CMHC says foreign ownership of condominiums in some of Canada’s largest cities has moved lower compared with last year.

Foreign ownership was the highest in Vancouver and Toronto at 2.2 per cent and 2.3 per cent, respectively.

However, that was down from 3.5 per cent in Vancouver and 3.3 per cent in Toronto in 2015.

CMHC said the relatively higher shares in Vancouver and Toronto in 2015 were due to an unusually high proportion of foreign ownership among newly constructed condominiums.

Foreign ownership of condos in Montreal slipped to 1.1 per cent from 1.3 per cent a year ago.

CMHC defined a foreign owner as a person whose primary residence is outside of Canada.