In November the Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board (OMREB) conducted a home buyers survey and the statistics might be surprising. Did you know 21.1% of buyers purchasing real estate in the Okanagan/Shuswap region during the month of November were from the Lower Mainland or Vancouver Island? How about this for a change, only 8.5% were from Alberta, or that the majority of buyers were couples with or without children and fewer empty nesters? You will certainly find the stats surprising, we did.
NOVEMBER SURVEY
Home/Property Type:
Most noteworthy, there was an increase in buyers that were downsizing, as well as going from strata to single family residential. Compare that to the biggest decreases were for revenue/investment property and recreational property, mainly due to the drop in buyers from Alberta.
21.3% by Relocating and moving to similar property type (down from 21.5% in October)
18.9% by First Time Buyers (up from 15.5%)
18.9% by Move-Up Buyers (up from 13.9%)
13.1% buying Revenue/Investment Property (down from 18.2%)
11.9% by Buyers Downsizing (up from 11.5%)
5.7% buying Recreation Property (down from 7.6%)
4.5% moving from Strata Property to Single Family Home (up from 3.6%)
4.1% moving from Single Family Home to Strata Unit (down from 5.2%)
0.4% moving into Retirement Home/Seniors Community (down from 2.7%)
Buyer Type (Family Dynamic):
As for types, the majority were family units, but both retired and single female buyers had big drops in the survey.
29.1% Two Parent Family/Children (up from 28.8% in October)
25.8% Couple without Children (up from 23.3%)
16.8% Empty Nester/Retired (down from 18.5%)
11.5% Single Female (down from 13.3%)
9.8% Single Male (down from 10.9%)
5.3% Single Parent with Children (up from 4.2%)
Moving From:
As noted above the bulk of the buyers in the Okanagan/Shuswap were local, but that number decreased while the biggest increase came from the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island. Alberta and those from the local area were the only groups that saw a decline in numbers, which may be partially due to the downturn in the Alberta economy.
54.1% from Within OMREB Board Area (down from 56.3% in October)
21.1% from Lower Mainland/Vancouver Island (up from 16.6%)
8.5% from Alberta (down from 13.6%)
7.7% from Other Areas in BC (up from 6.0%)
3.3% from Eastern Canada/Maritimes (no change from 3.3%)
2.9% from Outside Canada (up from 2.1%)
2.4% from Saskatchewan/Manitoba (up from 2.1%)
0.0% from NWT/Yukon (no change from 0.0%)
Source: Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board – November Buyer Survey Results (12/21/2017)
