A lot of attention has turned to who’s buying all of that super expensive housing in Vancouver. So the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) has been quizzing their Realtors over the past year to get to a better picture. Turns out over the past year first-time buyers were busy getting in on the action. The survey also confirmed that domestic speculation plays a much larger role than most people previously assumed.
First Time Buyers Were The Largest Group Of Buyers
Vancouver’s resale inventory is largely being sold to first time buyers. They were the largest single-segment of the survey, representing 32.2% of buyers over the past year. The second largest type of buyer was people moving into a similar type of property, which represented 18.9% of buyers. Surprisingly domestic investors came in third, accounting for 18.5% of transactions. Since we know you’re curious, foreign investors represented 2.3% of purchases. If that last number seems a little low, keep in mind that REBGV doesn’t involve any new construction.
Where Are Vancouver Real Estate Buyers From?
Buyers in the REBGV were mostly from Vancouver. The largest segment was people moving within the same REBGV community, which was 38% of transactions. Moving from another REBGV region accounted for another 36% of buyers. Third was investors not planning on moving into the homes, at 14%. Uh… cool.
Household Composition Of Vancouver Buyers
The REBGV survey also looked at who was buying around the GVR. The largest group of buyers were families with children, at 35.5% of buyers. “Young couples” without children, were second, totaling 15.7% of buyers. Third were single dudes, totaling 13.3% of all sales. Most interesting was the smallest category, other. The mysteriously ambiguous ‘other’ category represented 7.1% of buyers.
