CURRENT NEW HOMEOWNERS SURVEY The Current New Homeowners Survey is a province- wide survey of people who recently bought a new or nearly new home. The survey covers the current
At the data processing stage, the sample was weighted to match the actual proportions of homes with home warranty insurance that are single detached or in multi-unit buildings in Metro Vancouver, the Capital Regional District, and the rest of B.C.
homeowners ’ profile (age, type of home buyer, length of residency), their confidence level about their home purchase, satisfaction with the quality of construction and building process, and their outlook on housing market conditions. Historically for this survey, telephone numbers (landlines) were matched to address listings provided by BC Housing. However, the dwindling presence of landlines and the low success rate in matching landlines to addresses (typically 40% or less) meant the historical methodology was no longer sustainable. In 2014, the survey was changed to a mixed-mode design (mail-to-online and phone) with the aim of obtaining a more representative sample of homeowners. The lack of an incentive hindered mail-out response rates and telephone follow-up calls were hindered by a low proportion of addresses that could be matched to a landline. To determine the most sustainable method moving forward, a mail-to-online methodology and a general access panel was used in 2016, and in 2018 only a mail-to-online method was used. Both years included incentives to encourage response to the survey. In 2020, a total of 6,400 notification letters were mailed on October 29 th , 2020 to a random sample of owners of homes covered by warranty insurance under the Homeowner Protection Act inviting them to participate in the online survey. A listing of homes with home warranty insurance was provided by BC Housing, and homeowners contacted were further screened to ensure they met the criteria, including that their home was no more than 10 years old and that they had lived in their home for at least six months. The survey was open for participation until November 17, 2020. A total of 535 surveys were received, representing a response rate of 8%.
Sample Surveyed and After Weighting Sample Surveyed
Sample After Weighting
Metro Van – single detached 104
70
Metro Van – multi-unit
206
260
CRD – single detached
24
13
CRD – multi-unit
24
32
Rest of B.C. – single detached 141
75
Rest of B.C. – multi-unit 85 At the 95% level of confidence, the maximum margins of error on the total sample of 535 is +/-4% and for the sub-samples of 200 are +/-7%. 36 Given the change in methodology for 2016, percentage-to-percentage comparisons cannot be made between results prior to 2016 to results from 2016 and later. Instead, only broader-based, directional comparisons should be made. Results between 2016, 2018 and 2020 are comparable.
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