VICTORIA —
Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the real estate market in Victoria has been booming this summer, according to the Victoria Real Estate Board (VERB).
In July, a total of 979 properties were sold within the Victoria Real Estate Board region. That total represents a whopping 38.7 per cent increase in home sales compared to July 2019, and marks a 21.2 per cent increase from June 2020.
Similarly, June 2020 saw a huge increase in properties sold compared to the month before. In June, 808 properties were sold in the region, which represents a 76.8 per cent increase in home and condo sales compared to May, and a 9.2 per cent increase compared to June 2019.
However, VERB is quick to note that the recent surge in home sales does not indicate a long-term trend, as the local real estate market remains unpredictable amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
While this summer has seen an unseasonably high amount of sales, VERB says the sudden rush in real estate transactions is likely due to pent up demand, as prospective home buyers were less likely to view new properties during the height of the pandemic.
“If we look at the numbers alone, June and July were unseasonably busy months and the number of sales this month are on the higher end of our market for a typical July,” said VERB president Sandi-Jo Ayers in a release Tuesday.
“But we are not in a typical season… It is likely that our spring demand moved into summer now that folks are moving around our community more freely,” she said.
Meanwhile, the average cost of a single-family home in Greater Victoria last month was more than $1 million, a milestone that was first broken the month before in June.
In July, the average single-family home sold for $1,033,706 up from $1,014,746 in June. However, the median cost of a home remained below $1 million at $865,000.
According to VERB, a high demand for single family homes in Victoria, combined with a low market supply, have led to competitive conditions for prospective homebuyers.
“A big factor in our market right now is that we continue to see this very long term, very low supply of inventory which puts pressure on our market and prices,” said Ayers.
“Though we had a good number of new listings come to market this month, many of those listings were snapped up by buyers.”
Ayers says that over the past 10 years, the average number of listing available in July was 3,767. This year, however, approximately 1,000 fewer listings were available in Greater Victoria.
“Right now we have a lot of demand for single family homes – without the numbers to meet demand prospective buyers are often entering into multiple offer, competitive situations or are unable to find appropriate properties,” said Ayers.
With the real estate market surging across Greater Victoria, Ayers says that it is uncertain how market trends will unfold this fall due to COVID-19.
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.
