Many B.C. residents considering moving somewhere more affordable: poll
Tiffany Crawford
The Province
The Insights West Poll found 46 per cent of homeowners and 26 per cent of renters are considering moving elsewhere because of high costs.
An Insights West poll has found many B.C. residents are looking for somewhere more affordable to live. Photo by Arlen Redekop /PNG
A significant number of B.C. homeowners and renters are considering moving somewhere more affordable in B.C., suggests a new poll.
The Insights West Poll found 46 per cent of homeowners say they are considering either moving to a cheaper area in B.C., or leaving the country within five years.
Of those, a significant minority of homeowners are thinking of cashing out on their home in the next two years, and either renting (six per cent), retiring (six per cent) or travelling (eight per cent).
A further 11 per cent are thinking of selling and moving somewhere else in B.C. and nine per cent are considering moving to another country to afford a better home or buy something less expensive, according to the poll.
As for Metro Vancouver homeowners specifically, 13 per cent are considering selling and buying in a cheaper area in the region or moving out to the Fraser Valley.
It also found 26 per cent of renters are considering buying or moving to somewhere more affordable, and 60 per cent say the pandemic is part of the reason.
“The relentless climb of real estate prices in B.C. and in Metro Vancouver in particular has resulted in many homeowners weighing their options for cashing out,” said Steve Mossop, president of Insights West, in a statement Thursday.
“The option to downsize or move to a different location in B.C. in order to take advantage of the equity in their existing home has many weighing the alternatives.”
In other findings, a majority of B.C. residents believe that home prices in Vancouver will continue to climb.
Seventy-two per cent believe housing prices will continue to go up in the next 12 months, and 73 per cent say prices will continue to rise over the next five years.
Insights West found numbers are split about equally between people who believe prices will go up a little or go up a lot.
Both renters and homeowners believe prices will continue their incline over the next five years.
The online poll was conducted between June 23 to June 27 among a sample of 808 B.C. residents. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
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