The role of ethnic real estate agents in the residential relocation process: A case study of Portuguese homebuyers in suburban Toronto

This paper examines the search behavior of a sample of Portuguese and Canadian-born homebuyers in suburban Toronto, Canada. Attention is focused on the extent to which Portuguese homebuyers rely upon real estate agents from the same ethnic background and how this source can influence the homebuyer's housing search and ultimate choice of a residence. Data were obtained from a questionnaire survey that was administered to a sample of 110 Portuguese and 90 Canadian-born recent homebuyers in the city of Mississauga, a western suburb of Toronto. All were nonresidents of Mississauga at the time of purchasing the house. The evidence indicates that Portuguese homebuyers differ significantly from the Canadian-born in their housing search by relying more extensively on ethnic sources of information, particularly real estate agents from the same ethnic background. However, almost equal numbers of Portuguese purchased houses in Portuguese and non-Portuguese neighborhoods in Mississauga. In this respect, the evidence suggests that Portuguese realtors play a more limited role in reinforcing existing spatial patterns of Portuguese settlement in Mississauga.