“If we did not have foreign buyers, we’d be in a lot of trouble.”

‘In British Columbia, Asians Make the Difference’, NY Times, 31 Mar 2011 –
Excerpt:
In Vancouver, U.S. investors have always been a small part of the market, but mainland Chinese buyers have a more recent, and rapidly growing, influence.
Mr. McCredie, of Sotheby’s, said that in the past six months, the “vast majority” of sales of Vancouver-area homes priced at 2 million dollars or more have been to foreign buyers, most from mainland China. “Foreign buyers have driven up price points here, and they have heavily influenced local buyers,” he said, adding that from a sales perspective, “if we did not have foreign buyers, we’d be in a lot of trouble.”