Aston Lau

Betting against the Canadian real estate market

From this Investopedia article:

So, how can individual investors best-position themselves in the face of this potential upcoming housing bust – aside from not buying Canadian real estate, of course? This is where it gets a little different from the U.S. story.

Since CMHC is directly owned and operated by the Canadian government, there is no opportunity to short-sell CMHC or bet against it in the same way John Paulson profited immensely by betting on the demise of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. And since CMHC’s toxic MBSs are guaranteed by Canadian taxpayers and are not on the books of Canadian banks, short-selling the banks or MBS investors is a dead-end as well.

For the typical individual investor, the best opportunities are probably to be found in short-selling Canadian REITs….

Interesting advice.  If I actually had any money to invest, this would be something I’d love to try.