It has been revealed that Canadians are snapping up property across the US as they look to get bargains on their house prices in a similar way that they have been taking advantage of cheaper gas and dairy products over recent years.
One development, which is located just 45 minutes from the border, sees all but one of the 30 cabins owned by Canadians. The dollar on both sides of the border is almost on par and prices that start at around $269,000 are being seen as too good to ignore by the Canadians.
One cabin owner said: "I think we got great bang for the buck. I don't think we've regretted our choice [for] one second along the way." Another said: "We looked at Penticton, we looked in Osoyoos, we looked in Kelowna, and we found great prices in all of those spots, but we didn't want to drive [for] four hours."
In 2011 Canadians spent some $9.4 billion buying up American real estate, with many using the equity from their Canadian homes to fund the purchases in the US. As Canadians buy properties across the country, and in particular Phoenix, Phoenix itself is seeing prices rise faster than in other parts of the US. Prices there have risen by 25% in the last 12 months.
As one property expert said about their real estate business: "I never thought that I would have a business grow so rapidly in such a short period of time. A lot of people [who] are looking [say] that 'we better do it now before it's too late.' I get a lot of calls like that."
The property market across America has shown sustained signs of recovery during 2012.
