In what was one of the less pleasant summers we’ve had here in British Columbia — full of heat waves, moths and forest fires like we’ve never seen before — one part of the province fuelled plenty of interest from home seekers.
From top to bottom, Vancouver Island saw a major uptick in real estate searches on REW.ca this summer, as month-over-month queries continue to rise quickly.
Interest in property on Vancouver Island isn’t contained to home seekers on the island itself. Many Greater Vancouver residents are showing interest in cities like Nanaimo and Victoria as well.
After a summer full of fires in the Interior, Vancouver Island is looking more attractive than ever for Lower Mainland residents looking for vacation properties and second homes.
Decreased supply
While interest and prices may be rising, one of the most notable trends taking place on Vancouver Island is the limited supply of housing.
There were 51% fewer homes on the market in August 2021 on Vancouver Island than in the year prior, with major cities like Victoria having 57.8% less inventory.
According to the British Columbia Real Estate Association, sales are returning to normal, while supply is hitting record lows. This is a trend taking shape right across Canada, with all of the major political parties running for office promising to take on the lack of supply.
To those who already live on Vancouver Island, the recent uptick in search activity should come as no surprise. Vancouver Island is less busy, less densely populated, and arguably every bit as stunning as Vancouver.
Residential home prices also continue to be more affordable on Vancouver Island compared to Greater Vancouver. Last month, the average residential price of a home in Greater Vancouver was $1,174,176, compared to $695,085 on Vancouver Island in general and $875,711 in Victoria.
Rising prices
Though the average residential price of a home on Vancouver Island in general and Victoria specifically are both under the provincial average in British Columbia, prices are still rising steadily.
Over the last 12 months, no region in B.C. has seen a larger percentage increase in home prices than Vancouver Island, with prices on residential homes jumping 29.5% year over year. Outside of Vancouver Island, Kamloops and Chilliwack are the only other areas that have seen price growth of over 20%.
What might be most surprising to investors and home seekers is the increase in interest for Vancouver Island’s less populated cities. One might expect to see Nanaimo and Victoria draw more queries on REW, but there’s an equal amount of search growth in smaller markets like Parksville, Ladysmith and Sooke. Of the top 10 largest cities on Vancouver Island, all 10 have seen an increase in search queries on REW this summer.
An unprecedented start to 2021 still has B.C. on track to set all kinds of records this year, and though sales have slowed, an increased interest in areas like Vancouver Island could be an indication that demand is still trending upward. With limited supply and interest rates remaining depressed, we could see prices continue to rise on Vancouver Island in the months to come.
In a recent interview with the Vancouver Real Estate Podcast, REW president Simon Bray highlighted three markets other than Vancouver Island that have been standouts on the home search platform, garnering significant interest from home seekers across the province.
TORONTO – One expert predicts Ottawa‘s changes to mortgage rules will help spur demand among potential homebuyers but says policies aimed at driving new supply are needed to address the “core issues” facing the market.
The federal government’s changes, set to come into force mid-December, include a higher price cap for insured mortgages to allow more people to qualify for a mortgage with less than a 20 per cent down payment.
The government will also expand its 30-year mortgage amortization to include first-time homebuyers buying any type of home, as well as anybody buying a newly built home.
CIBC Capital Markets deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal calls it a “significant” move likely to accelerate the recovery of the housing market, a process already underway as interest rates have begun to fall.
However, he says in a note that policymakers should aim to “prevent that from becoming too much of a good thing” through policies geared toward the supply side.
Tal says the main issue is the lack of supply available to respond to Canada’s rapidly increasing population, particularly in major cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17,2024.
OTTAWA – The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold in August fell compared with a year ago as the market remained largely stuck in a holding pattern despite borrowing costs beginning to come down.
The association says the number of homes sold in August fell 2.1 per cent compared with the same month last year.
On a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis, national home sales edged up 1.3 per cent from July.
CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart says that with forecasts of lower interest rates throughout the rest of this year and into 2025, “it makes sense that prospective buyers might continue to hold off for improved affordability, especially since prices are still well behaved in most of the country.”
The national average sale price for August amounted to $649,100, a 0.1 per cent increase compared with a year earlier.
The number of newly listed properties was up 1.1 per cent month-over-month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Two Quebec real estate brokers are facing fines and years-long suspensions for submitting bogus offers on homes to drive up prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christine Girouard has been suspended for 14 years and her business partner, Jonathan Dauphinais-Fortin, has been suspended for nine years after Quebec’s authority of real estate brokerage found they used fake bids to get buyers to raise their offers.
Girouard is a well-known broker who previously starred on a Quebec reality show that follows top real estate agents in the province.
She is facing a fine of $50,000, while Dauphinais-Fortin has been fined $10,000.
The two brokers were suspended in May 2023 after La Presse published an article about their practices.
One buyer ended up paying $40,000 more than his initial offer in 2022 after Girouard and Dauphinais-Fortin concocted a second bid on the house he wanted to buy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
