A record-breaking number of Americans are searching for Canadian real estate after the U.S. presidential election.
On Nov. 6, Canadian real estate company Royal LePage saw 23,000 online visitors from the U.S., making it the highest number of U.S. users on the site since Donald Trump was first elected in 2016.
However, the data shows U.S. site visits have been increasing by 104 per cent per week since the presidential election campaign commenced at the beginning of the summer this year.
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The site saw the highest number of U.S. visitors this year on Nov. 6. Former president Donald Trump officially announced he was running during the election on Jul. 15.
“The previous peak was in November 2016, Trump excited potential American exit candidates like no president before” CEO Philip Soper told Now Toronto on Tuesday.
Royal LePage has been collecting data from U.S. users for the last 30 years and though there has been spikes in Americans looking for property, that hasn’t translated over to increased immigration levels, according to Soper.
“There’s been increased activity due to an emotional response, like ‘I hate my job so what if I became a paramedic,’ as opposed to taking practical steps to immigrate. That said, Americans are the nationality that buys recreational real estate more than any other foreign buyer. That just happens to be chalets, cabins, and cottages, and not urban homes,” Soper said.
However, Soper believes it’s doubtful Americans will be crossing over the border anytime soon.
“I’ve lived abroad in the U.S., Europe, Asia in India and it’s hard work. I was leaving for a year or so, not permanently. Immigrating to another country is a big deal. Any developed nation places hurdles for any immigrant and Canada is no exception. You have to show you have the skills that can’t be filled by a Canadian national or sufficient capital you’re going to have to invest in starting up a new business,” Soper said.
From June through September, 38 per cent of Americans were looking at homes in Ontario, followed by 17 per cent looking at B.C. and 16 per cent at Quebec, according to the Real Estate company. Also, most U.S. users are from blue states, or democratic states, but the highest number of site users recently have been from historically republican state South Carolina.
“Even demographically driven, the number of people moving into retirement age, we could see a spike in the number of Americans trying to get away from the craziness to a rural setting in Canada, maybe Nova Scotia, cottage country north of Toronto or the B.C. coast. Certainly that is the feedback I’m getting across our management from across the country from emails and phone calls they’ve been getting,” Soper said.
