Canadian Dollar & Scottsdale AZ Real Estate

June 3, 2010

In the last 6 months, the Scottsdale AZ real estate market, (and the Paradise Valley & Fountain Hills housing market) has been witness to an influx of Canadian real estate buyers. canadian real estate buyer scottsdale

 Many of these would-be home buyers have been winter visitors of frineds who own Scottsdale real estate, season renters or vacationers for many years. Over the last several years, these Canadian home buyers and real estate investors have watched home prices in Scottsdale, Fountain Hills and Paradise Valley drop precipitously; in some cases, prices are down as much as 50% from the peak in July of 2006. If you combine the home price drop (plummet :) , the drop in interest rates to under 5% for fixed-rate mortgage and under 4% for adjustable rate mortgages (ARM’s) and the rise of the Canadian dollar versus the U.S. Dollar over the last few years to actually hit ‘par’ (equal to the US Dollar) has caused a Canadian real estate buyer frenzy here in greater Phoenix AZ.

Canadian buyers, mostly from Calgary, and Edmonton, Winnipeg, have been aggressively buying real estate here and explaining to me that it is a no-brainer, asking ‘where else are you going to buy a vacation home’? Florida is too far, taxes are too high and the cost of hurricane insurance is prohibitive if you want to live near a coast. Texas real estate prices have not come down as much and many feel it is not ‘metropolitan’ enough; too ‘American’ , LOL, if you will. California is way too expensive, and the property taxes are too high. Finally, most Canadian real estate buyers feel that Nevada does not offer the same upside potential for a real estate recovery. 

As a real estate broker for investment funds, I should likely learn the Canadian national anthem, (besides the first two words) as our friendly neighbors to the north have helped support our local economy.

Fellow real estate buyers, keep an eye on the Canadia Dollar; it could be a forward looking indicator of Scottsdale AZ home prices.

——————————————————————————–

Copyright © 2010By James Wexler *Canadian Dollar & Scottsdale AZ Real Estate*

Contact James Wexler (480) 221-8080 for all your Scottsdale AZ Real Estate needs.

Written by James Wexler · Filed Under Buyers, Investing | 2 Comments