Canada's Housing Bubble

As the loonie hovers near parity with the U.S. dollar, a growing number of Canadians are taking advantage of real estate deals south of the border.

The number of Canadians buying property in Whatcom County, located at the northwestern tip of Washington State, is up 20 per cent over last year.

Canadians invested $11-million in homes in Whatcom in the first quarter of 2009, making up about nine per cent of all sales.

"Almost 80 per cent of my buyer clientele over the last 12 months have been from Vancouver," Birch Bay realtor Mike Kent said.

And with Metro Vancouver's bloated real estate prices, it's no surprise. In Blaine, Wash., CTV News found a 1,300 square-foot home listed for $225,000.

That's less expensive than current listings for a two-bedroom Surrey condo -- and even a 30-year-old mobile home in Abbotsford.

"As long as the Canadian dollar stays close to par, we're going to see a lot more Canadian traffic coming down," Blaine realtor Ron Freeman said.

And when the Harmonized Sales Tax comes into effect this summer, there will be that much more incentive to head south.

"We have no tax in the U.S. for the purchaser, so they realize immediate savings," Kent said. "Some of them I think are buying as a matter of protest, quite frankly."