Of the total population included in the survey, 14% currently own some type of recreational real estate asset. Within this group, 57% are sole recreational property owners and 43% have invested in shared ownership assets, including timeshare or fractional ownership properties.
A recent Harris/Decima study in the recreational real estate sector uncovered significant interest in the purchase of leisure real estate properties among Canadians.
Of the total population included in the survey, 14% currently own some type of recreational real estate asset. Within this group, 57% are sole recreational property owners and 43% have invested in shared ownership assets, including timeshare or fractional ownership properties. Owners of recreational real estate are predominately high income earners ($100k plus) and over 40 years of age.
The survey also found that 36% of those who are sole owners purchased their property prior to 1990, whereas 43% of timeshare investments are fairly recent and occurred in the 90's while fractional ownership investment is even more recent with most acquisitions made since the year 2000.
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Canadians that own recreational real estate tend to be much more frequent travellers than those who do not. While one third (31%) of Canadians travel nationally only once per year the trend is higher among those who expressed interest in owning recreational property:
-28% of those interested in sole ownership travel locally 5 to 9 times on average per year
-27% of those interested in fractional ownership travel 5 to 9 times
-23% of those interested in timeshare travel 4 times per year
As many Canadians (30%) take one trip per year on average to the US, however, owners of shared recreational real estate properties (42%) and those interested in shared ownership travel to the US more often:
-53% of those interested in timeshare make at least one trip per year
-46% of those interested in fractional ownership make at least one trip per year
A group of 300 respondents (or 30% of the total population in this representative survey) indicated they are interested in purchasing a recreational property. Peak purchase interest among these potential recreational real estate buyers is predominantly focused on sole ownership assets:
-71% are interested in acquiring sole ownership properties
-15% are interested in timeshare
-14% are interested in fractional ownership
Though visiting family prompts many Canadians to travel, vacationing for pure leisure and enjoyment is quickly catching up:
-49% travel to visit family
-42% do so for recreation, amusement, parks or resorts
-30% to experience nature
-25% to experience other cultures
The beach, sun and sand reign supreme when it comes to desirable amenities that can close the deal! Half the owners (48%) in the survey prefer to be near the beach and almost as many (46%) want retail facilities nearby.
A total of 1,004 respondents participated in this study focused on leisure, travel and investment patterns with Canadians across the country. Data for this Harris/Decima study was collected in September 2008.
