It may come as a surprise to some people that home heating oil is still a very commonplace heating solution for many Victoria and Vancouver Island homes. Although there are great arguments for the efficiency of natural gas and electric heat, many existing homes are still using oil. Provided you have replaced your oil tank within the last decade or so, and it is in an appropriate location in the property (ie. not downstairs in the basement – that doesn’t fly anymore) then there is usually no issue as far as insuring your property or in heating your new home. Although oil is generally considered to be a more expensive form of heating, it also usually found in older homes where significant savings can be made with things like upgrading the windows, adding insulation and properly weatherstripping doors and attic hatches.

The largest concern about oil heating when buying or selling a property is whether or not there is an underground oil storage tank buried on the property. Natural gas wasn’t introduced to Victoria until 1957 and prior to that, many home owners buried their oil storage tanks underground to avoid an unsightly tank taking up valuable space in their yard or home. Unfortunately, this lead to the potential for an environmental nightmare.

A metal tank that’s buried in the ground will simply not last forever. It will rust and degrade until it is no longer sealed and leaks can develop. You can imagine the effect of 1000L of heating oil slowly leaking into your backyard. Now most buried oil tanks were not left in the ground full to the brim, as they neared the end of their life, homeowners replaced the tanks with new ones either inside or outside the house., but many left the old tanks right where they were. As time goes by, water can leak into the tank and that oily residue can pose an environmental risk.

As a home buyer, if you are looking at a home that pre-dates the 1960′s you will want to have the property inspected for a buried oil tank. If the tank has already been removed, there should be a record of it, but it’s a free inspection and could save you tens of thousands of dollars. The standard practice is if you discover an underground oil storage tank druing your inspection of the property, get an amendment to the contract that states the Seller will remove the tank and remediate the property at expense to the Seller.

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.

March 2011 Sales by Area/Type