Despite an increase in sales, prices in the Victoria real estate market have remained flat over the past several quarters. The upward pressure on prices eased in the 3rd Qtr of 2018 and after a modest decrease, prices have levelled off. On the supply side, the number of listings was up from the same period last year. On the demand side, there was an increase in the number of sales.
The real estate market in Canada has been in a slump during the past couple of years. BC has been particularly hard hit. Despite this, BC still has the most expensive real estate in the country.
There were 2,155 properties (including lots and acreage) active on the VREB’s MLS® database for the Greater Victoria area (i.e., excluding the Malahat, Up-Island and the Gulf Islands) on Oct 1, 2019, up +10.0% from the inventory level of 1,964 a year ago.
Compared to most areas of the country, the real estate market in Victoria put in another solid performance in 2018. Despite slowing sales and properties taking longer to sell, prices continue to edge up, particularly in the condo and townhouse sectors of the market.
In June 2018, Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation(CMHC), released the results of a survey of home buyers who purchased a home in 2017 in the Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver Census Metropolitan Areas. The objective was to determine buyers’ attitudes as to factors drive the market, particularly prices. The study was an effort to explore “behavioural economics” or what the layman might term the psychology of buying.
There were 1,910 properties (including lots and acreage) active on the VREB’s MLS® database for the Greater Victoria area (i.e., excluding the Malahat, Up-Island and the Gulf Islands) on July 1, 2018, up +50.3% from 1,271 a year ago. As an additional point of reference, the inventory was 2,796 on July 1, 2015.
The real estate market in Victoria continues to cool and begins to move towards a more balanced market.
For the most part, governments in Canada have pursued polices encouraging home ownership. The rate of home ownership
increased from 60.3% in 1971 to 69.0% in 2011. In the past five years, many urban areas, particularly the Lower Mainland
of BC, the Golden Horseshoe around Toronto, as well as Victoria have experienced a marked appreciation in real estate
values.
A Scotiabank Group report entitled “Global Real Estate Trends,” released in November 2017, reported the results of a survey of the housing markets in twenty-three countries. This survey found that seventeen countries enjoyed year-over-year (y/y) “real house price increases” (i.e., inflation-adjusted) into the 1st and 2nd Qtrs of 2017.
The scale of residential building construction underway around the Capital Regional District (CRD) these days is striking.
