Educating Canadians on

housing market realities

with RE/MAX

256M+ media impressions were generated cross online, print and broadcast.

The Opportunity

Real estate has sustained unprecedented levels of attention among Canadians over the last decade.

Whether it was threats of a “housing bubble,” the influx of online-based discount services, or rising prices, the need for realtors to assert their value, had never been greater. This was all kicked into even higher gear when a global pandemic took hold, forcing many Canadians to re-evaluate their lifestyles and living situations. Whether it meant aspiring to live in other communities with new work-from-home capabilities; looking for homes with added office or green spaces; Canadians’ real estate aspirations and needs had shifted drastically.

In response to these evolving factors, RE/MAX Canada had an unprecedented opportunity to better guide buyers through a more complex home search process. At the core of this process, was the strategic program coined by RE/MAX as LIVEABILTY.

LIVEABILITY is based on emphasizing the quality-of-life expectations we have of our home within a neighbourhood and community. Through Liveability, stemmed RE/MAX’s Housing Market Outlook Report (HMO).

With COVID-19 still on the minds of many Canadians, it was now more relevant than ever to drive home the value of professional realtors as trusted neighbourhood advisors that could help guide Canadians through their homebuying/selling journeys in this new world of uncertainty. This gave APEX and RE/MAX the opportunity to educate Canadians on how they could best proceed with their real estate transactions in a way that was safe and secure; give them insight into current housing market trends, activity and outlooks; and help to ease the minds of Canadians when it came to the current uncertainty around the buying and selling process. This all had to be done in a timely and sensitive way.

What We Did

Based on polling research and industry insights, a year-long media relations program with seven diversified and timely reports on the housing market was developed.

Our reports included:

Professionalism Report (how to partner with a genuine professional realtor);
Renovation Investment Report (what renovations deliver the best return on investment);
Recreational Property Report (leisure property focus); Affordability Report (delved into the affordability crisis);
Fall Outlook Report;
National Condo Report; and
2022 Housing Market Outlook (HMO) Report (prediction for the year ahead), which was the best performing report of the year in terms of media impressions and number of stories generated.

The Impact

Reactive pitching took place every day in the month of December to secure interview opportunities for brokers and agents, as well as Christopher Alexander, President, RE/MAX Canada and Elton Ash, Associate Vice President, RE/MAX Canada.

Media interviews were secured with RE/MAX’s two national spokespeople, one based in Western Canada and one based in Eastern Canada, as well as local brokers and agents within each identified key market to offer first-hand insights on their region’s in more detail.

Our approach positioned our brokers as thought leaders, as we we took advantage of the current news cycle.