Following a surprise announcement that Canada decided to shut down its foreign direct investment program, leaving around 60,000 would-be investors (mostly Chinese nationals) now unable to make their move into Canada, media outlets around the globe were eager to report on the impact of this decision. King 5’s Jake Whittenberg aired a TV News segment called “Changes in Canada could lure scores of rich Chinese to Seattle” on February 13th, which interviewed Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty’s Dean Jones and Becky Lee, who both discussed what this means for the Seattle area. Becky said Seattle is an enticing alternative for Chinese investors to use EB-5 investment visas as a means for quick entry into the US and quickly began receiving calls from Vancouver. Jones, who interviewed with Whittenberg from the soon-to-be-opened Kirkland branch office of Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty, said the timing of the firm’s Eastside expansion couldn’t be better, as many of these investors are likely to prefer the Seattle and Eastside areas. Jones later referenced Census data showing that Asians are the fastest growing demographic in Washington State, with many Eastside communities comprising between 25% up to 50% of the population.
Becky Lee was subsequently interviewed by 1130AM news radio in Vancouver, BC on the likely impact to the housing marketing north of the border while predicting increasing demand for the Puget Sound region.