16 J o s e f H a n u s / S h u t t e r s t o c k
B C B U S I N E S S . C A
J U LY/A U G U S T 2 0 2 5
foreigners are also the biggest
buyers: Florida, Arizona, Cali-
fornia, Hawaii.
I can hardly wait to see
what the 2025 report, which
will cover from last April up
to March 2025, will have to
say, given the unprecedented
turbulence south of the border
because of The White House
Resident Who Shall Not Be
Named. It seems likely that the
sell-off, particularly in redder
states like Florida, will be con-
tinuing apace.
In the meantime, there is
much chatter among cur-
rent owners, among friends,
relatives and neighbours of
owners, among realtors and
among business-watcher types
about what might happen
among B.C. proprietors who
have flocked to various parts of
nearby Washington State and
bought up a lot of recreational
property, in particular.
In Point Roberts, in Blaine,
in Birch Bay, in rural vacation
compounds on the road to
Mount Baker, Canadians have
become a significant compo-
nent of the population.
So it's a big question: will
they decamp?
Joy Trayers sure isn't
planning to. Trayers says she's
actually been through worse
since she and her husband
bought a share at the Black
Mountain Ranch Campground
19 kilometres southeast of
Sumas in August of 2001.
Canadians looooove
American real estate.
For all that we have liked
to serially complain over
the decades that our True
North Strong and Free land
is being bought up by the
Americans, the Japanese, the
Chinese, the Russians, the
Koreans, the South Asians—we
apparently love that Yankee
dirt right back.
In fact, the U.S. National
Association of Realtors report
for 2024 (the last one avail-
able) showed that tiny little us,
population 40 million, surged
ahead of China, population
much bigger than 40 million,
for number of properties
bought in the U.S.
Okay, so the 7,100 homes
that Canadians bought in
the U.S. in 2024 is a dribble
compared to the peak of 2010
(69,100) or even the mid-
2000s, when the numbers
were in the 40-50,000 range.
But foreign buying has been
slowly declining for all groups,
leaving Canadians still among
the most prevalent buyers in
recent years, with a 13-percent
share of all purchases.
As it turns out, we can also
be the biggest sellers, when
things aren't going well. In
the 2024 report, Canadians
represented almost a quarter
of foreign owners selling their
properties. Much of that is
happening in the states where
NORTHERN
REFLECTIONS
With the U.S. and Canada firmly locked in a
trade war, British Columbians who own property
south of the border are feeling the heat
L A N D V A L U E S
By Frances Bula
Frances Bula is a long-time
Vancouver journalist and
the 2023 recipient of the
Bruce Hutchison Lifetime
Achievement Award from the
Jack Webster Foundation.
BORDER BUDDIES
Though a border
divides Tsawwassen,
B.C., and Point Roberts,
Washington, many
BCers have vacation
properties in the U.S.
border town
