Sales are Up! - According to the Statistics collected by Victoria Real Estate Board (VREB) sales have increased for the second straight month.
This should come as no surprise however, since sales activity typically builds after the holiday season and many people wait for the spring to put their homes on the market. There were 622 sales recorded on the VREB Multiple Listing Service® for March 2011, a definite increase from February’s 422 sales, but yet still below sales activities of March 2010 (789 sales). There is a general consensus that last years early sales figures were boosted with the confusion surrounding the introduction of the HST as many people pushed their purchases forward in the year.
Inventory levels are also reflective of that trend, with 4100 properties available at the end of March 2011, 10% more than on the Victoria MLS® at the same time last year.
See the current relationship between Active Listings and Sales
Although many people have been waiting for the ball to drop, average prices have begun to increase again, with last month’s single family home averaging $619,275 for Greater Victoria, an increase of almost $9000. Condominums also had a moderate average price increase to $325,581, up slightly from February’s $323,844. Townhomes have been holding their value quite steadily, although we did see another average price increase from Feb to March ($434,626 from $415,591) although the 6-month average declined slightly to $431,975.
See the Average Price Graphs for Greater Victoria
It has been a turbulent few years in the real estate market, with the sub-prime mortgage meltdown in the US, international economies faltering, and some banks receiving whopping bail-out packages, but things in Victoria’s real estate market are settling down and we are holding our own in Balanced Market. There are a reasonable number of both Buyers and Sellers entering the marketplace and people are moving for ass the “normal” reasons: a new job, additions to the family, adult children moving out etc.
The first-time buyers are still an important contributor to driving the Victoria real estate market, and although there has been some upward activity as far as mortgage rates, interest rates are still very attractive and many renters are still able make the jump into home-ownership.
