Canadians Scoop Up U.S. Real Estate

Did you know that Canadians account for more than half of all new home purchases in California, Texas and Florida? Yes, that's right, it's true! The strong Canadian dollar, (the looney) a declining U.S. dollar and weak housing prices due to the subprime mortgage mess have increased the appetite for Canadians to cross the border and buy real estate. What is adding to their appetite? An explosive local housing market in Canada where Canadians are seeing double-digit appreciation in their own home values. They have cash and they're spending it! Local real estate brokers in California, Arizona, Florida and other sun belt states are seeing a ton of Canadian buyers. One broker interviewed in Sarasota said in the past six months 20% of his calls are from Canadians.

To shed light on this positive real estate investment story, I interviewed Dennis Yeskey, national director of real estate capital markets and Connie De Goot, a real estate expert with Coldwell Banker.

Take a look.