The results of OMREB's DECEMBER 2012 Buyers Survey are in! A total of 100 respondents participated in this survey – representing 50% of the 201 OMREB sales representatives who acted as Buyers Agents, and 39% of the 258 deals closed on behalf of Buyers in December.

DECEMBER SURVEY SUMMARY

Property Type:
29.9% of purchases were by Move-Up Buyers
17.5% by First Time Buyers
11.3% purchasing Recreation Property (up from 9.1%)
9.3 % buying Revenue/Investment Property
5.2% moving from Single Family Home to Strata Unit (down from 10.4%)
4.1% moving from Strata property to Single Family Home
3.1% moving into Retirement Home/Seniors Community

NOTE: During the month of December, there was an increase in the sales of Recreation Properties, and a decrease in Single Family Homeowners moving to Strata Units compared to November– as noted above. Other categories remained at similar levels to the previous month.

Buyer Type (Family Dynamic):
29.0% Two Parent Family/Children (up from 27.1%)
21.0% Empty Nesters/Retired (up from 19.4%)
20.0% Couple without Children (down from 27.1%)
15.0% Single Female (up from 10.0%)
13.0% Single Male (up from 8.8%)
4.0% Single Parent with Children (down from 5.3%)

NOTE: In December, there was an increase in purchases by Two Parent Families with Children, Empty Nesters, Single Females and Single Males compared to November – as noted above, while other categories saw decreases.

Moving From:
68.7% from Within OMREB Board Area (up from 57.6%)
9.0% from Alberta (down from 11.6%)
7.1% from Lower Mainland/Vancouver Island (down from 10.5%)
4.0% from Other Areas in BC (down from 9.3%)
4.0% from Eastern Canada/Maritimes (up from 2.9%)
3.0% from Outside Canada
2.0% from Saskatchewan/Manitoba (down from 4.1% in November)
2.0% from NWT/Yukon (up from 0.6% in November -- 15th month reported)

NOTE: Compared to November, there was less migration from Alberta, the Lower Mainland/Vancouver Island, other parts of BC, and Saskatchewan/Manitoba in November, but more movement from within the Board area, Eastern Canada/Maritimes, and NWT/Yukon -- as noted above.

DECEMBER 2012 RESULTS & HIGHLIGHTS: Click here for full summary of survey with pie charts, here for highlights for this month, and here for the “Who is Buying Homes in the Okanagan-Shuswap?” hand-out for January 2013.

2012 PIE CHARTS - Year-End Averages: Click here for pie charts showing averages compiled for all five Survey categories during 2012 (4 quarters – year-end), and here for 2011 to compare. Click here to view averages for the two main categories - Buyer Type and Where From - compiled for the past 28 months (since September 2010) to show trends.

REALTORLink Archive: Monthly Buyers Survey results, averages and highlights are posted and archived for easy reference (and download) on OMREB's Statistics page on REALTORLink.