OTTAWA -- Canadians have been flooding into the depressed U.S. housing market, purchasing a record number of homes south of the border, and twice as many as a year earlier.

Armed with what until recently was a strong currency, most were also paying cash, according to the 2008 National Association of Realtors annual profile of international home-buying activity in the U.S.

Canadians have replaced Mexicans as the top foreign buyers of U.S. properties, the survey revealed.

The surge in purchases of U.S. properties by Canadians is due to the combination of the stronger dollar, a drop in U.S. house prices, and last winter's record snowfall, John Clinkard, a consulting economist with Reed Construction Data, said in an analysis of the report yesterday.

The annual report, based on a survey of U.S. realtors, found that in the 12 months ended last May, nearly a quarter of foreign buyers of U.S. properties were from Canada, double the proportion of a year earlier, reflecting both a surge in Canadian buyers to a record high and a drop in purchases by other foreigners.

"Condominiums were most popular among those foreign buyers from Canada," it said, noting that nearly half of all properties purchased by Canadian buyers were condominium apartments.

Florida and Arizona were the most popular states for Canadian buyers, accounting for more than 60 per cent of their purchases.

The amounts Canadians paid for their properties were relatively modest compared with other foreign purchasers.

Foreign buyers, especially Canadians, were also much more likely than Americans to pay cash for their homes.

© The Vancouver Province 2008