Foreign buyers have become real players in Toronto and Montreal's housing markets. But not all of them are snapping up luxury properties, as many have in Vancouver.

The Urbancorp St. Clair West sales center stands in Toronto, Ont. on April 27, 2016. (Photo: Cole Burston/Bloomberg via Getty Images) Foreign investment in real estate has already likely shifted from Vancouver to Toronto, in light of B.C. introducing a 15 per cent property transfer tax on foreign buyers, TD Economics said in a report from last week. Economist Diana Petramala noted that Toronto's sales-to-population ratio has grown significantly in recent months to hit 1.9, up from its average of about 1.6. This suggests that "foreign investment and speculation are playing a part, albeit likely smaller than in Vancouver," Petramala told BuzzBuzzHome.

Homes in Toronto's Beaches neighbourhood. (Photo: Driendl Group/Getty Images) That buying has supported continuing strength in the Greater Toronto Area's (GTA) real estate market, which saw home prices climb by 18 per cent year-over-year in September. Ontario housing markets remain Canada's tightest, with only one to two months of inventory — meaning that if no further homes became available, there would only be one to two months' supply left. The average housing market across Canada has 4.7 months of inventory.

Homes on Sherbrooke Street in Montreal. (Photo: Visions of our Land/Getty Images) Montreal is also seeing an influx of foreign buyers, but they're not concentrated in affluent housing, as has been seen in Vancouver. Chinese buyers are snapping up cheaper Montreal condos as they look to take up residence in the city or find places for their children to live, Royal LePage Quebec senior director Dominic St.-Pierre told CBC News. But it's nothing like in Vancouver, he added. Only about one per cent of luxury properties, which sell for over $1.5 million, were bought by Chinese last year. Most foreign buyers in Montreal come from France or the United States; Chinese only make up about eight per cent and Saudi Arabians represent approximately five per cent.