REALTOR.ca Reveals Top Home Buying Search Terms of 2023

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How many bedrooms are most Canadians looking for in a home? And whereabouts? Is every would-be home buyer searching for the same thing as you?

You can leave the guessing behind, thanks to REALTOR.ca’s Local Insights tool. From keywords and search filters, to demographic information and more, this tool allows you to search by city or country-wide to discover how visitors are using the site and what they’re looking for.

When you pair insights from the tool with resources and listings on REALTOR.ca, you paint a clearer picture of the housing market and the opportunities available where you want to live. 

Home beside water.

The top used filters in 2023

When it comes to home type, house (as opposed to condo, townhome, apartment, duplex, etc.) is the most common filter applied to searches on REALTOR.ca in 2023. 

Listings with 2+ and 3+ bedrooms are also commonly applied to REALTOR.ca searches. This is the case across Canada, and when narrowing the insights to larger urban centres like Toronto and Calgary—the two most popular cities searched during that same time period.

In the third quarter of 2023, 65.3% of REALTOR.ca users in Canada were aged 25–54, while the top buyer persona was classified as a repeat buyer (49.8%). 

Dig a little deeper, and you notice waterfront as being the top searched feature filter. Now, knowing detached homes with multiple bedrooms are most often searched, we can draw a few conclusions as to what all this means: 

  • visitors are likely in the market to move up from their current residence;
  • buyers are in need of more space (to accommodate a growing family or working remotely); and
  • privacy and connection to nature remains desirable to home buyers in the wake of COVID-19. 

It also means if you’re on the hunt for a single family home with waterfront—while also being close to the city—you can expect a lot of competition. But this information can also be used to help you decide where not to look—or encourage you to broaden your criteria. 

Perhaps a pool in lieu of the waterfront? Or maybe a smaller city instead of the Greater Toronto Area?  

Here a few resources to help get you started if you’re in the market for a waterfront property:

Places to live

Things to consider

If a pool will do

Family going into home with moving boxes.

Most common demographics 

Repeat buyers and first-time home buyers were the two most common buyer personas using REALTOR.ca in 2023.

Repeat buyers represented 49.8% of visitors in the third quarter and can be classified as move-up buyers and downsizers. Knowing detached homes with 2 to3+ bedrooms were often searched, it’s likely the move-up category out numbers downsizers. 

Why do people decide to move up? Each buyer has their own reasons, but as mentioned earlier, the need for more space is common—whether it’s to accommodate a growing family and multigenerational living or the ability to work from home. Downsizers are at the other end of the spectrum, being less concerned with having more space and more interested in having the right amount of space. 

First-time buyers’ needs are often similar to repeat buyers’, but their searches can differ. They are more flexible with factors like home types, number of bedrooms, and location, while the primary driver is price—it’s a question of what kind of home can they afford and where can they afford it? This is shown by the most commonly used price filters, with the minimum and maximum price both being set to $500,000.

So how does this information help you in your search for a new home? It gives you a baseline for how different types of buyers are using REALTOR.ca, and it offers direction on where you may need to educate yourself, from budget, to home design, to what sellers are looking for from prospective buyers. 

On the REALTOR.ca Living Room blog, you have access to resources on all these topics and more. Here are a few to consider:

For downsizers

For first-time buyers

For multigenerational living

Couple looking at tablet.

The modern visitor: a digital-first researcher

It’s not surprising to see mobile devices as the most used method of searching for homes on REALTOR.ca, accounting for 70.7% of visitors in the third quarter of 2023. Nor should it come as a shock to see mobile as the top device for sharing listings, resources, and blog articles—83.9% of visitors used mobile for sharing during that same time. 

Interestingly, listings and non-listing content is most commonly shared on Facebook, but non-listing content is also shared on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter) to a lesser extent. Knowing how users of those platforms differ, it can be assumed the content shared is tailored accordingly (professional versus trendy, for example). 

What this means is users of REALTOR.ca are as tech-savvy as ever and embrace digital conveniences to simplify their home buying journey. If you’re a seller, this highlights the importance of working with a REALTOR® who understands the behaviours of home buyers and has the ability to create mobile-friendly assets to help sell your home. This includes virtual tours and open houses, videos and image galleries for social media, and other resources.  

A helpful tool for both sellers and buyers is the REALTOR.ca app (Apple / Android). Access real-time data on listings, filter your searches, and connect with a REALTOR® with the press of a button. 

For more resources on leveraging digital tools to sell your home, check out the following:

Family standing in front of home.

Other factors to consider

With sales in Canada’s housing market continuing to slow as a result of high interest rates, per the Canadian Real Estate Association, there’s evidence of a shift from buying to renting. Searches for rentals on REALTOR.ca were up 38% in 2023 compared to 2022. Another interesting statistic is that international users of the site increased 24% year-over-year in 2023, while the domestic user base experienced a modest 5% boost. 

For international buyers and sellers

For those exploring different housing types and options

All that to say, there’s a lot to consider when it comes to buying and renting, selling, and moving altogether. REALTOR.ca, our Living Room blog, and tools like the REALTOR.ca app and Local Insights are all designed to make the journey easier. 

Address checklist.

Here are some additional resources compiled for different buyers, sellers, browsers, and everyone in between

For those curious about the current market

For those saving for a down payment

For those who love a list

For those wanting to make the most of their sale

For those looking for tips from the pros

REALTOR.ca is the most popular and most trusted real estate website in Canada. Owned and operated by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), REALTOR.ca provides up-to-date and reliable information that makes finding your dream property easy and enjoyable. REALTOR.ca is popular with sellers, buyers, and renters and is accessible online and on mobile devices.


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