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Overseas investors are snapping up properties in Canada's largest cities, driving up prices and pushing ordinary Canadians out of the housing market, observers say.

Real estate experts call it the "new reality," and the high price paid for a north Toronto bungalow is the latest evidence.

This month, the three-bedroom bungalow, circa the 1960s and without much updating, sold for $421,800 over the asking price, creating a buzz among agents and other buyers.

Located in Willowdale, where similar detached houses typically sell for just short of $900,000, the bungalow at 300 Dudley Ave. was listed at $759,000.

The winning bid of $1,180,800 came from a university student whose parents live in China and own a business in San Francisco. There were four other bids of more than $1 million.

"The initial response was quite vociferous," said Michael Adelson, a Re/Max agent who represented the seller and received several phone calls about the deal after it was done.

"There's a lot of anger among Canadians who earn money here that they've been priced out of the market. There is some degree of anxiety about how people are going to compete with these hyper-inflated prices."

Adelson declined to discuss the specifics of the Willowdale deal, citing client confidentiality.

But CBC business commentator Michael Hlinka called the deal "outrageous and borderline bizarre."

The strong reaction to the price likely stems from how it changes the vision of affordability for average Canadians, he said.

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Offshore bids price Canadians out of housing market

By Chris Moore - March 15, 2012 | Tickers: AAPL, BIDU, GOOG, INTC, SINA, SOHU, TUDO, VZ, YOKU | 0 Comments

Chris is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinions of our bloggers and are not formally edited.

China is a huge country by almost any metric you choose. Theyre the second largest economy, have the largest total population, the greatest number of cell phone users, internet users, and rank in the top 5 in terms of total landmass. What makes investing in China particularly interesting is the fact that its people are achieving greater and greater wealth across the board and the middle class is growing rapidly and so is demand for the internet and web services of all sorts. Given my personal preference for tech stocks, I've been spurred to take a look at what China has to offer, weighing the pros and cons of investment.

First the pros:

The math is pretty enticing, a large number of people in China have yet to obtain access to the internet, and when they do, companies like Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU), Renren, Sohu.com, and Sina (NASDAQ: SINA) are likely to be the places they frequent. This is particularly appealing given the fact that each of these companies already boasts millions of users on top of being poised to gain more.

Total Number of Internet Users in China and the US

Even though the chart above ends at 2010, it is clear Chinas current population with internet access is on pace to more than double that of the U.S. and likely already has. According to Analysys International the number of Chinese mobile internet users was 400 million in the third quarter of 2011, where the global total for mobile internet users is somewhere around 1.2 billion for 2011, according to the International Telecommunication Union. The Chinese market is already very large, but even more importantly; the major Chinese internet companies have control of the market, thanks in part to their restrictive government. Companies like Baidu and Sina benefit enormously from the absence of their U.S. counterparts. For instance, in the global search market, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) is the leader by a wide margin, with Baidu in second place with just 11% of the market.

In China, however, the tables are turned, due to Googles smaller presence within the borders.

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Investing in China’s Internet Boom

14-03-2012 08:45 How agents can intelligently position themselves to develop new business listings and sales on autopilot.

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Real Estate Agents Internet Marketing101 - Video

14-03-2012 09:09 Get involved with agents that can provide the answers you need davidpylyp.com in your preferred method of communication. a Better lifestyle is possible in Toronto.

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Internet is not a FAD - Toronto Real estate - Video

William H. Poteet Jr., Naples

President, Naples Area Board of Realtors

Tax advisory

As tax time nears, rumors are circulating again on the Internet and via email about a 3.8 percent tax on real estate that will take effect in 2013.

---- There is a common misconception that the new tax, which was included in the health-care reform legislation, is a sales tax or transfer tax that will be imposed on all real-estate transactions. This is untrue.

---- The 3.8 percent tax may be imposed on some high-earning homeowners income from interest, dividends, rental income (less expenses) and capital gains (less capital losses).

---- The tax will fall only on individuals with an adjusted gross income (AGI) above $200,000 and couples filing a joint return with more than $250,000 AGI. The tax is expected to hit only some portion of investment income for upper-income homeowners when they sell a home or investment property.

---- The purpose of the tax, which was inserted at the last minute into the legislation, is to offset some of the cost of health-care reform. The tax is expected to generate $325 billion over eight years.

If you fall in the income range and are considering selling real-estate properties, its important to talk about your specific situation with a Realtor and your tax adviser. You also can download a free brochure by the National Association of Realtors at http://www.realtor.org/government_affairs..

---- The Naples Area Board of Realtors will continue to keep homeowners informed as the 2013 effective date approaches as we seek to clear up any confusion about how you may be affected in a real-estate transaction.

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Letter: Tax advisory