Blog by Evon Mayer

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MARKET : Buyer Demographics

Who are

The Buyers fueling the market?

To get a better sense of who is

buying in Fraser Valley, what they’re

buying and where, a statistical pool was undertaken.

As expected, the most active segment

was first time buyers (32%),

followed by those moving from an

apartment or a townhouse to a detached

house (22%). Sellers moving

from a house into a condo or cashing

out completely made up less than

10% of all sales. When asked about

the demographic profile of buyers,

results indicate that half of all buyers

(51%) are families with children and

more than one third are either single

(18%) or couples without children

(18%). Empty nesters and retirees

make up less than 10% of all buyers.

Many members mentioned low

interest rates as a motivator and difficulty

in securing financing as a challenge.

With 44% of buyers utilizing

high ratio financing (less than a 25%

down payment) and 43% requiring a

conventional mortgage, the importance

of available credit is definitely an issue.

Many survey respondents also made

reference to fragile buyer confidence.

Most buyers moved within their

community (43%) or within the board

area (35%). About 13% moved from

elsewhere in BC and less than 10%

moved from outside of BC (4%) or

outside Canada (5%).

This provides an informal snapshot of the Fraser

Valley’s market dynamics.

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