Okanagan Market Update May 2015

by Jas Khunkhun

Here are the results of the Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Boards May 2015 Survey in wich 300 realtors responded to the survey, which is 58% of the 517 OMREB sales agents who acted as the “Buyer’s Agent.”

These are some very interesting numbers:

Property Type:

• 31.5% by Move-Up Buyers (up from 28.3% in April) *
• 20.3% by Buyers Downsizing (up from 16.6%) *
• 14.9% by First Time Buyers (down from 20.3%)
• 9.8% moving from Single Family Home to Strata Unit (up from 8.0%) *
• 9.5% buying Revenue/Investment Property (up from 5.9%) *
• 6.8% buying Recreation Property (down from 8.0%)
• 2.7% moving from Strata Property to Single Family Home (down from 4.3%)
• 2.0% moving into Retirement Home/Seniors Community (down from 3.1%)

Buyer Type (Family Dynamic):

• 26.9% Empty Nester/Retired (up from 17.0% In April)
• 25.8% Two Parent Family/Children (down from 28.4%)
• 20.8% Couple without Children (down from 28.9%)
• 13.4% Single Female (up from 11.3%)
• 10.7% Single Male (down from 11.3%)
• 3.0% Single Parent with Children (down from 3.6%)

Moving From:

• 55.7% from Within OMREB Board Area (down from 61.8% in April)
• 15.7% from Alberta (up from 12.3%)
• 10.7% from Lower Mainland/Vancouver Island (same as April)
• 8.4% from Other Areas in BC (up from 6.1%)
• 4.0% from Eastern Canada/Maritimes (up from 3.6%)
• 3.7% from Saskatchewan/Manitoba (up from 2.5%)
• 1.0% from NWT/Yukon (up from 0%)
• 0.6% from Outside Canada (down from 2.5%)

More buyers moved from other areas of BC, and migrated from Alberta and all other provinces during May, while immigration from other countries declined compared to April.