Did you hear the US has a new president? Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve no doubt heard about incoming president Donald Trump. The unlikely victory by the polarizing figure has sparked protests across the US and the world. No doubt, this a volatile time. Regardless about how you feel about him and his term as president, there is change coming. Today, we are going to discuss how some of that change could affect our real estate market.
Disgruntled US Citizens Moving North Of The Border
During the campaign season, you heard over and over from non-republican voters that they would consider moving to Canada if Trump became president. Although this sounds great, I don’t think we will see a material population of Americans trying to move to Canada. There are too many logistical issues such as immigration, etc that would prevent it. Overall we don’t expect to see much impact from this.
Immigrants Choosing Canada Over The US
As two countries with lots to offer immigrants, Canada and the US sometimes battle over the most skilled applicants. With Trump being viewed unfavourably by much of the world, these cream of the crop immigrants may choose Canada over the US. This could be good for growth in Canada and therefore our real estate market.
Focusing On The Economy & Jobs
The emphasis on much of the policy Trump is expected to be putting forward centres around jobs and the economy. He doesn’t really mind if he ruffles feathers in the process of gaining or keeping jobs in the US. We’ve already seen announcements from different manufacturers about moving jobs back to the US or deciding the keep them there instead of moving to a lower cost jurisdiction. Most of this rhetoric is aimed at low cost producing countries such as Mexico or China. Canada is a higher cost producer and has a pretty balanced trade relationship with the US. Therefore we do not see Canada as a trade target of the Trump Administration. If we see a resurgence in manufacturing in the US, that could benefit our economy by proximity and inter-country companies building components in both countries, making it mutually beneficial. As a border town, this could benefit our local manufacturing sector and therefore our real estate market.
General Uncertainty
Markets and companies don’t like uncertainty, which without a doubt, the incoming Trump administration has brought about. People like to invest in stable economies. During this period with Trump, Canada could look very attractive as a place to invest for companies and real estate investors. Our real estate market could benefit from this perceived relative stability.
The times they are a-changing. Those are some of the takeaways we see from the changing landscape under Trump. What are your thoughts?
