Royal LePage says its website has recorded a spike in U.S. visitors ahead of next Tuesday’s presidential election.
The Canadian real estate brokerage says total south-of-the-border visits to view Canadian homes for sale on royallepage.ca more than doubled as summer election campaigning went into full gear.
The company says U.S.-originated sessions to royallepage.ca surged 104% week over week (67% year over year) during the week of June 16.
“Americans are a minority in the hundreds of thousands of new Canadians we welcome each year, yet around presidential election time, they get very, very interested in their neighbour to the north,” said company CEO and President Phil Soper.
And Royal LePage reported that during the week of June 23 — on the heels of the first presidential debate between President Joe Biden and then-presumptive Republican nominee, Donald Trump — traffic peaked, up 112% week over week and 94% year over year.
Royal LePage says there have been elevated levels of traffic from U.S. visitors ever since.
“Nothing like political and economic uncertainty to get people searching for greener grass,” added Soper. “Browsing online listings and moving to another country are two entirely different matters – given the rigorous application process and the federal government’s recent decision to reduce immigration targets, only serious and qualified candidates will actually relocate.”
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The company says July 2024 recorded the highest web traffic on royallepage.ca from U.S. visitors over the past year, with a noticeable single-day spike recorded on July 15 – the same day Trump officially became the Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election.
This was also just two days after the first attempt on his life, which occurred during a rally in Pennsylvania.