Open this photo in gallery:Investors have become more prevalent in Canada’s housing market, accounting for 30 per cent of all residential real estate purchases in the first part of this year, according to new data.Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, investor buying has grown as soaring home prices ramped up interest in residential properties as an asset class.Investors were responsible for 30 per cent of home purchases in the first three months of the year, according to data released by the Bank of Canada. That is up from 28 per cent in the first quarter of last year, and 22 per cent in the same period in 2020. The central bank defines an investor as a buyer who took out a mortgage to buy the property while maintaining a mortgage on another home.Meanwhile, the percentage of first-time homebuyers shrunk to 43 per cent in the first quarter of this year from 48 per cent in the same three months in 2020. Similarly, repeat buyers fell to 27.5 per cent from 30 per cent over the same pe...
