Thank you to members who participated in March’s Market Poll

We saw a 27% increase in participation compared to February. The more that participate, the more reflective the data. Here’s what members told us about their buyers in March:

Fewer first-time buyers: 30% in March vs. 38% in February.

Logically then, we saw buyers overall on more solid financial ground: 33% of March buyers required a high-ratio mortgage vs. 41% in February. In February. In February, 11% paid all cash. In March, that jumped to 19%.

The Olympic effect? In February the poll showed zero buyers moving here from an area of BC outside the Lower Mainland and zero moving here from outside of Canada. In March, both of those scored just over 7%.

And for the question: Were your buyers motivated by the pending HST on new homes? In February, 21 members said “yes” and in March that number jumped to 32. We’ll be watching this one as we edge closer to July 1, 2010, HST implementation day.