Every month the Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board (OMREB) does a survey to get a better understanding of buyers. Below is a summary of the survey that shows what types of properties are being bought, the family dynamic of buyers and where the buyers are coming from. If you have any questions about this survey or any other Kelowna real estate stats, call The Dion-Ivans Real Estate Team!

MAY SURVEY SUMMARY

Property Type:
28.6% of purchases were by Move-Up Buyers (same as April) 
18.5% by First Time Buyers  (down from 21.1%)
15.2% moving from Single Family Home to Strata Unit  (up from 10.6%) *
6.4% buying Recreation Property  (down from 9.9%)
7.4% buying Revenue/Investment Property  (down from 9.6%) 
5.1% moving from Strata property to Single Family Home (up from 3.6%) *
4.4% moving into Retirement Home/Seniors Community  (down from 6.3%) 

* During the month of May, there was an increase in purchases by those moving single family homes to strata properties, and from stratas to single family homes compared to the previous month.

Buyer Type (Family Dynamic):
24.5% Couple without Children (up from 24.0% in April) **
21.9% Two Parent Family/Children (down from 27.8%)
21.95% Empty Nester/Retired (up from 19.2%) **
17.9% Single Female (up from 11.4%) **
10.6% Single Male (down from 12.0%) 
3.6% Single Parent with Children (same as April)

** There were more purchases by couples without children, empty nesters/retirees, and single females during May than in April.

Moving From: 
57.7% from Within OMREB Board Area  (up from 51.1% in April) *** 
16.3% from Alberta (down from 20.2%)
9.7% from Lower Mainland/Vancouver Island  (same as April)
7.3% from Other Areas in BC  (down from 10.1%)
4.3% from Saskatchewan/Manitoba (down from 4.1%) 
3.7% from Eastern Canada/Maritimes (up from 3.1%) ***
1.0% from Outside Canada  (down from 1.6%)
0% from NWT/Yukon (same as April)

*** Compared to April, more buyers moved from within the Board area, and Eastern Canada/Maritimes in May.  Movement from other areas stayed the same or declined.

The Bank of Canada announced this morning that it is maintaining its target for the overnight rate at 1 per cent.  In its accompanying statement, the Bank noted that total CPI inflation has reached its 2 per cent target sooner than the Bank had forecast due to higher energy prices and a lower Canadian dollar. On economic growth, the Bank expects an improvement in exports in the second half of the year as well as strengthening business investment and a soft landing in the housing market. The Bank judges that the balance of risk in the Canadian economy is weighted modestly to downside risk to inflation.

Inflation in Canada has started to move materially higher in recent months, driven by a substantial increase in energy costs.  At the same time, the Canadian economy has posted disappointing growth due to slowing household spending and a drag on exports from weakness in the United States.  However, as the Bank noted in its statement, there are good reasons to believe that both of these trends will prove temporary.  Much of first quarter economic weakness was due to unusually severe winter weather which kept consumers at home and construction projects delayed.  As the weather warms up, we anticipate a rebound in growth in the second quarter. As for inflation, the impact of higher energy prices on headline CPI should fade in coming months and the Bank has already suggested it will look past the transitory increase in inflation. However, there does seem to be some underlying momentum in core CPI, which if sustained will be much harder for the Bank to ignore. For now, we anticipate the Bank will remain in neutral, leaving rates unchanged until 2015. 

Copyright British Columbia Real Estate Association. Reprinted with permission.