REITs willing to sell apartments covered by $1.5 billion fund

Ottawa is looking to buy "at-risk rental apartment buildings" with the $1.5 billion earmarked for housing to ensure they remain affordable in the long term. Photo by Getty Images/iStockphoto

The $1.5 billion earmarked by Ottawa for the Canada Rental Protection Fund to buy apartments as part of the Build Canada Homes agency is expected to attract interest from landlords, including the country’s two largest apartment REITs.

But one broker openly wonders if the program, included as part of the federal government’s $13 billion plan to boost affordable housing , will see property sold to the government at inflated prices.

Mark Goodman, a principal at Goodman Commercial, a leading Vancouver brokerage in apartment sales, said the fund in his province has already been “overpaying” for asse