VIREB Releases It’s 2019 Buyer Profile!
This detailed, in-depth report tracks the who, what & where of residential property purchases in the Vancouver Island Real Estate Boards area.
The report is based on survey responses from 1,378 Buyers in the VIREB jurisdiction and provides insightful data on where they moved from, what they purchased & why they bought what they did. It also summarizes property characteristics for the board area & sub-areas including Campbell River, Comox Valley, Cowichan Valley, Nanaimo, Parksville-Qualicum, Port Alberni-West Coast, North Island & the Gulf Islands.
Demographic Trends are similar to the past years; at 83% a slight increase from last year, owner occupiers continue to the be main Buyers in the VIREB area. Downsizing made up 12% of sales and 2% of purchases were investment & recreational properties.
54% single family detached homes made up the majority of the sales last year while apartments accounted for 13% & townhouses 8%.
Despite the weaker market in 2019 home prices posted gains throughout the VIREB area. Last year 20% of purchases were under $300,000, 49% under $450,000, 76% under $600,000 & close to 90% sold for under $750,000. 3% of properties in the board area sold for over $1,000,000.
The percentage of first-time home buyers last year was 19% in Campbell River, 13% in Comox Valley, 12% in Cowichan Valley, 19% in Nanaimo, 22% in Port Alberni-West Coast & 23% in the Gulf Islands. Not surprisingly in the popular retirement community of Parksville-Qualicum first-time buyers made up only 5% of sales. Overall, purchases for retirement was 57% which is down 2% from 2018 but almost the same as 2016 & 2017.
Click here to view the complete 2019 Buyer Profile from VIREB.com
