The capital region’s real estate market ended August with just over 40 per cent fewer sales than the same month a year ago, reflecting an anticipated slowdown due to factors such as higher interest rates.
Last month, 478 sales were recorded through the Victoria Real Estate Board’s multiple listing service, which is considerably down from August 2021, when 831 properties changed hands.
August, a traditionally slow month in the real estate sector, also saw sales slide 6.3 per cent slide from July.
Both single-family homes and condominiums saw declines in sales numbers, the board said in its monthly report released Thursday.
Prices also softened in August from July.
The benchmark value for a single-family home in Victoria’s core was $1.39 million in August, down 2.9 per cent from $1.43 million in July, but up from $1.2 million in August 2021.
As for condos, the benchmark value in the core was $621,900 last month, a drop of 2.8 per cent from July, when it was $639,900. The benchmark in August of last year was $509,900.
“After two years of market conditions that favoured home sellers, sales have diminished in the past few months and inventory levels have been slowly increasing,” said board president Karen Dinnie-Smyth.
Real estate watchers look at the ratio of sales to active listings — represented as the percentage of available listings that sold in the past month — to help evaluate supply and demand.
A balanced market is considered to be in the 15 to 20 per cent range, Dinnie-Smyth said. A year ago, the capital region’s market was at 94 per cent, but today, it is at 28.14 per cent, indicating the area is moving towards a more balanced market.
At the end of August, there were a total of 2,137 active listings with the Victoria board. That’s down from 1.2 per cent in July but remains a significant increase from the previous year at 1,120.
