The
Canadian's are coming, the Canadian's are coming!
Are Colombia realty companies ready to help?
Real estate, around
the world, has become a very fluid inter-connected investment
market. A few years ago when U.S. home sales boomed, each week,
scores of Gringos (a friendly term here in Colombia) purchased
apartments, houses and small farms in popular cities, such as
Cartagena. Because of her rich history, image of pirates, romance,
architectural magnificence and Caribbean beaches, Cartagena always
been a favorite for international retirees and second home investors.
This trend continues, as the "Baby Boom" generation
in the U.S. is just getting started.
The second most popular city for foreigners is Medellin, which
continues to captivate buyers as they visit and discover this
dynamic and beautiful: City of Eternal Spring. Now that the U.S.
housing market is in a slowdown, we´re finding that many
Canadian´s are cashing out and investing a portion of their
profits here in Colombia.
Bienveniedos
Canadians.....you will love Colombia!
NOTE:
Many Colombian realty companies are discovering that real estate
has become an INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS. American real estate franchise
companies are opening offices throughout Colombia. The one thing
they all have in common is: each office has at least one agent
who speaks English. The hundreds of realty companies, throughout
Colombia, who year-after-year remain "on the fence"
regarding catering to the International Market....over time, will
close, or sell out to more progressive realty companies. The numbers
of Buyer´s from Colombia, and other Spanish speaking countries,
are minuscule when compared to the the millions of English speaking
Internationals who are visiting and discovering true VALUE, along
with a great LIFESTYLE, living and investing in Colombia.
Canadian Home Prices Rise at "Astounding" Pace
July, 2007
Bucking the trend in other previously
booming real estate markets, Canadian house prices maintained
an "astounding" pace of growth in the second quarter
of 2007, according to a new report that suggests the price increases
will continue for the foreseeable future.
Royal LePage Real Estate Services
predicts that Canadian house prices will climb by 9.5 percent
on average to C$303,000 (approximately $287,000) by the end of
the year, with the total number of sales rising 8 percent to more
than 500,000 units.
"The momentum from the
year's extraordinary start spilled into the second quarter, compounding
typically busy spring market activity and stimulating solid price
appreciations in almost all regions of the country," Phil
Soper, the president of Royal LePage, said in a press release.
"The most profound story in Canadian real estate today is
the extraordinary interest that people across our country continue
to have in buying and selling homes."
Average
condo prices climb 15% in second quarter
By category of home,
the price of standard condominiums gained 15.1 percent in the
second quarter from a year earlier to C$238,784 on average, and
standard two-storey properties were up 13.2 percent at C$399,469,
while detached bungalows saw the largest jump in prices with a
rise of 15.4 percent to C$338,738.
The biggest gains in house prices
occurred in the western provinces where an influx of workers has
been spurred by the region's booming commodities industries, principally
oil and gas.
According to a recent report
by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), British Columbia
remained the most expensive province in which to purchase a home
at the start of the second quarter, with the average resale price
at C$431,909, while Prince Edward Island was the cheapest at C$135,019.
In Vancouver, British Colombia,
the average price of a two-storey home is close to C$900,000,
while in Toronto the same kind of property sells for just over
C$500,000.
July, 2007