When real estate entrepreneur Cam Good hosted a group of predominantly mainland Chinese investors this Wednesday at a White Rock condo showing, he was tapping into a market that's surging across much of Metro Vancouver.

Wednesday's attraction was Avra, a 17-storey condominium tower that's slated to be built over the next two years, and Good took along a busload of investors -some from China and some already living here -and their agents to view the plans.

But it's not just condos that are attracting Chinese buyers, with single-family homes and large lots topping the list. Across the Lower Mainland, especially Richmond and Vancouver's west side, mainland Chinese buyers and immigrants are becoming a major part of the market, in some cases competing with each other through multiple offers.

And the phenomenon is starting to spread to other areas including Burnaby, West Vancouver, White Rock and beyond.

According to a report on new multi-family home sales in the Lower Mainland by Colliers, which recently opened a dedicated office in Shanghai to deal with the increasing demand, a total of 2,711 new multi-family units were sold in the region in the fourth quarter of 2010, making it the most active quarter of the past year.

Meanwhile, a recent report in the China Daily, a state-run publication based in Beijing, said Canada was "the most popular choice" for overseas investors while "growing restrictions on property purchases in major Chinese cities ‘are driving’ the country's nouveau riche to look overseas for investment opportunities."

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