It's a break for the visitors, but for Realtors -- especially in the hot zones that overseas investors prefer -- it's non-stop open houses, home tours and negotiations during the holiday. If it's anything like last year, agents and employees in real estate offices will be working double shifts to accommodate the rush.

Home sales last February tell the story. Chinese New Year in 2011 started on February 3, and that month sales exploded, up 70 per cent from January of that year. March home sales climbed again as deals closed -- up 32 per cent from February.

"There's an enormous spike in activity," says Malcolm Hasman of Angell Hasman & Associates Realty. He says his business is affiliated with the top 20 Chinese agents in the area, who are all expecting many buyers coming in for the holiday. As a specialist in top-end luxury homes in West Vancouver, he prepares by advertising extensively in Chinese media, holding agents' opens and attending events with his high-profile Chinese clients.

January traditionally sees a dip in the number of listings, but all this New Year buying is changing that. Glenn Dennis heads the Glenn Dennis Group in South Surrey/White Rock, an area that took off with overseas Chinese buyers last year. He starts lining up listings in November to make sure there's a good variety of properties to show. 

In Richmond the Chinese influence is nothing new. Crystal Hung notes that in the last two years everyone is aware of the "Chinese New Year effect" so listings are not hard to come by. Richmond owners know this is a good time to sell a home.

While investors from China often buy real estate sight unseen, the New Year holiday gives them a chance to comparison shop. Crystal Hung says they come prepared. Almost all of them deal directly with a buyer's agent, and it's not unusual for people to arrive with six or seven properties lined up to look at.

Being able to look at homes with family members who live here gives buyers a local perspective. Malcolm Hasman says that last year 80% of all his sales were to Chinese buyers, and of those, one-third were moving to West Vancouver from other areas of the Lower Mainland. He says by having family living here, buyers have learned about the value that West Van offers in the luxury market compared to pricier Vancouver West, and they move for the safety of the community and good schools.

The hotspots for luxury homes remain Vancouver West, Richmond, West Vancouver, and, more recently, South Surrey/White Rock.

But Chinese New Year buyers are interested in investment properties as well as family homes. In the new-condo market, developers say that on certain projects, 70 per cent of their buyers are Chinese, and they're buying in areas that they used to ignore. Metrotown led the condo charge in Burnaby. Now Coquitlam and Burquitlam are awakening because they're close to the proposed Evergreen Line and good schools. Another driver is access to universities, colleges and technical institutes because parents buy condos to house their student children while they’re getting their degree.

This Chinese New Year ushers in the Year of the Dragon, one of the most powerful signs in the zodiac. That makes it a particularly lucky year to invest. So for many sellers in the Lower Mainland, lucky money could be headed their way.

See also:

Asian Investors Buying Beyond Traditional Neighbourhoods

Cultural Clash Can Skew Vancouver Real Estate Sales