Abstract

This paper explores the investment appetite for multi-family dwellings in the greater metropolitan areas of Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, and Montréal from 2015 to 2023. The study uses macroeconomic variables and a sentiment index built from Google Trends to analyze sale volumes of developers, individuals, institutional investors, and private corporations. The results of the study indicate that both developers and institutional investors are susceptible to the economic conditions and market sentiment when making decisions to securitize their investments. Conversely, individuals and private corporations respond inversely to periods of high or low volatility, with higher or lower transaction volumes, respectively, possibly with the strategic intent of purchasing properties at a discount. Additionally, the analysis reveals that increasing the money supply in Canada consistently correlates with increased investment volumes across all investor types. In contrast, periods of negative sentiment are consistently associated with lower investments.