ÎLE-DES-SOEURS, QUÉBEC--(Marketwire - Jan. 23, 2013) - A survey conducted last fall by Léger Marketing, commissioned by the Québec Federation of Real Estate Boards (QFREB), reveals that property buying and selling intentions for the current year will remain stable in the Québec City Metropolitan Area compared to last year.

Stability in Buying Intentions

The survey shows stability in buying intentions in the Québec City Metropolitan Area in the next twelve months as 8 per cent of respondents, compared to 7 per cent last year, indicated it is very or fairly likely they will purchase a property in 2013.

Across the province, 7 per cent of respondents plan to buy a property during the year. This result is also similar to that of last year, when buying intentions reached 8 per cent.

An increase was observed in the buying intentions of existing properties (66 per cent versus 59 per cent in 2011) for all regions of Québec. In the Québec City Metropolitan Area, 69 per cent of future buyers will choose an existing property this year, compared to 66 per cent last year.

The survey also tells us that future buyers are young and educated, they have children and a higher household income, and they will be looking for a larger and more expensive property.

Stability in Selling Intentions

The survey shows stability in selling intentions in the Québec City Metropolitan Area in the next twelve months as 5 per cent of respondents, compared to 4 per cent last year, believe it is very or fairly likely they will sell their property in 2013.

Across the province, 6 per cent of respondents plan to sell their home during the year. This result is also similar to the selling intentions of last year, which stood at 5 per cent.

The future sellers surveyed are older, educated and have a higher household income. Approaching retirement coupled with a desire to reduce maintenance work and renovations motivate their intention to sell. More specifically, it was noted that respondents in the Québec City Metropolitan Area want to increase the living area of their property.

Methodology

This web survey was conducted between October 22 and November 5, 2012, among a representative sample of 4,507 French- or English-speaking Québec residents, aged 18 or over. In order to be eligible, respondents had to be responsible for paying the mortgage or rent of their residence. Quotas were established according to region: 2,105 respondents came from the Greater Montréal area while 1,202 respondents came from the Greater Québec City area and 1,200 came from other areas of the province. Using data from Statistics Canada, the results were weighted according to age, regions, gender, language spoken in the home, education and presence of children in the household to ensure a sample representative of the entire study population.

About the Québec Federation of Real Estate Boards

The Québec Federation of Real Estate Boards is a non-profit organization composed of Québec's 12 real estate boards and close to 15,000 real estate brokers who are members. Its mission is to promote and protect the interests of Québec's real estate industry so that the boards and their members can successfully meet their business objectives.