Nearly one in 10 residential properties in B.C. are owned by “non-individual entities,” according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
Tuesday’s (February 12) report from the Crown corporation finds that non-individual ownership of residential properties amounts to 9.8% in B.C. and 5.6% in Metro Vancouver.
Kelowna has the highest rate of non-individual ownership among the province’s metro areas at 7.6%, while non-individual ownership amounts to 15.8% outside urban regions.
The CMHC defines non-individuals as corporations, governments, sole proprietorships and partnerships.
The report, Residential Property in British Columbia, Ontario and Nova Scotia: Overview of Non-Individual Ownership, concluded most non-individual owners are governmental organizations, corporations in the construction sector, and corporations in the real estate and rental and leasing sector.
But it’s not necessarily homes that these entities are hanging onto.
Instead, the CMHC found that non-individual owners are more prevalent on vacant land, owning 64% of these properties in B.C.
And in Metro Vancouver the average assessed value of vacant land owned by non-individuals tallies in at $1.9 million compared with $1.1 million for individuals.
