It might not feel like spring, but the Greater Victoria real estate market is sure acting like it, according to numbers released Tuesday by the Victoria Real Estate Board.
The region recorded 795 property sales last month, and while that is 195 fewer than October of this year, it is close to the record for the month of November, which was 892 sales recorded in 1989.
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“Once again, we’ve tracked an unexpectedly busy month for the Victoria area real estate market,” said board president Sandi-Jo Ayers.
The market has been busy for a while now, as the region flirted with 1,000 sales each month from July through October, suggesting the usually busy spring market – March through June – was delayed until July this year.
“Obviously, we lost a couple of months in the spring,” said Ayers, noting the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the market in April and parts of May and might be the cause of the pent-up demand that has fuelled recent sales figures.
Ayers also noted the market has benefited from historically low interest rates.
“The pandemic may have pushed people’s plans ahead a little faster,” she said, noting those who had been considering retiring or moving up or down in the market might have decided to take advantage of the low-interest environment.
Last month, 361 single-family homes changed hands, down from the 474 that were sold in October, while 262 condos sold, down from 304 in October.
While sales numbers dropped, prices didn’t.
Last month the benchmark price of a single-family home in the region increased to $813,700 from $752,300 in November last year and $795,200 in October this year. Condo prices also increased to $508,400 last month, from $505,500 last year and $504,500 in October 2019.
“We have low inventory and have for a number of years and that puts pressure on pricing,” said Ayers.
There were 1,813 active listings for sale at the end of November, 24.4 per cent fewer than were available at the same time last year.
Ayers said inventory below 2,000 at this time of year is a significant marker, as the region tends to see numbers that low only by the end of the year.
The result of the drop in inventory has led to a significant increase in the number of homes receiving multiple offers and a significant number of properties selling for more than their asking price.
“We have seen that in the last nine months – properties coming to market and within five days they often get multiple offers,” said Ayers. “That tells us inventory is low and properties in desirable areas and priced well get attention from buyers.”
As for what’s to come for real estate in this region, Ayers said it could be more of the same.
“The fact is, the market has outperformed anyone’s expectations in the midst of this pandemic. There is a chance we will see a slow levelling of activity over the winter – which is what we would expect seasonally. However, because of our consistently low inventory, pressure on pricing and multiple-offer situations will likely continue as we remain in a demand-heavy environment,” she said.
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.
