The total sales value of properties sold in one month through the Victoria Real Estate Board has leaped past the $1-billion mark for the first time.
March’s 1,173 sales resulted in a cumulative figure of $1.037 billion in value, the board said in its monthly report, released Thursday. This includes residential properties, lots and acreages, and commercial properties.
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The previous high figure for total monthly sales was set last year in September at $826.3 million. The prior record was also set in 2020, when July ended with $780,000 million in sales.
Last month’s total was also well above previous years: There were $447.6 million in sales in March 2020 and $416.5 million in March 2019.
In February, the total sales value was $730 million.
Greater Victoria’s intense real estate with its robust demand is due to factors such as tight inventory, tough bidding competition and low interest rates.
Local social media sites frequently feature people seeking homes because they can’t find anything in their price range or because they’ve been outbid.
The number of total sales in March was up 93 per cent from the same month last year, the board said. The average March had 715 sales through the 10 years prior to 2020.
“Numbers from last month are close to the market trends we saw in 2016, but with an even greater imbalance in inventory due to a surge in consumer demand for homes in the Victoria area,” the board said.
“Limited supply with overwhelming demand has been the story for the first quarter of 2021,” said Victoria Real Estate Board president David Langlois.
That demand has resulted in rising prices in many cases.
The benchmark value for a single-family home in the Victoria core in March 2020 was $879,600. It rose to $968,700 in March 2021, up by 2.2 per cent from the previous month, the board said.
Benchmarks measures the value of a home in a particular area over time, a method the real estate industry considers more reflective of the market than average prices.
The average value for a single-family home in Greater Victoria was $1.18 million last month and the median — the value in the middle — was $1.02 million.
Condominiums saw a slight drop year-over-year with a benchmark value in the capital region of $529,100, compared to $531,800 in 2020. The average in the region in March was $554,137.
A critical factor in housing prices is the number of properties on the market.
At the end of March, there were 1,310 listing through the board’s multiple listing service. That’s down by 41.8 per cent from March of last year.
“The underlying issue is a deficit in supply,” Langlois said.
“Supply needs to be addressed by all levels of government and particularly by local governments which control land use policies and development processes.”
HALIFAX – A village of tiny homes is set to open next month in a Halifax suburb, the latest project by the provincial government to address homelessness.
Located in Lower Sackville, N.S., the tiny home community will house up to 34 people when the first 26 units open Nov. 4.
Another 35 people are scheduled to move in when construction on another 29 units should be complete in December, under a partnership between the province, the Halifax Regional Municipality, United Way Halifax, The Shaw Group and Dexter Construction.
The province invested $9.4 million to build the village and will contribute $935,000 annually for operating costs.
Residents have been chosen from a list of people experiencing homelessness maintained by the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia.
They will pay rent that is tied to their income for a unit that is fully furnished with a private bathroom, shower and a kitchen equipped with a cooktop, small fridge and microwave.
The Atlantic Community Shelters Society will also provide support to residents, ranging from counselling and mental health supports to employment and educational services.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.
Housing affordability is a key issue in the provincial election campaign in British Columbia, particularly in major centres.
Here are some statistics about housing in B.C. from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s 2024 Rental Market Report, issued in January, and the B.C. Real Estate Association’s August 2024 report.
Average residential home price in B.C.: $938,500
Average price in greater Vancouver (2024 year to date): $1,304,438
Average price in greater Victoria (2024 year to date): $979,103
Average price in the Okanagan (2024 year to date): $748,015
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Vancouver: $2,181
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Victoria: $1,839
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Canada: $1,359
Rental vacancy rate in Vancouver: 0.9 per cent
How much more do new renters in Vancouver pay compared with renters who have occupied their home for at least a year: 27 per cent
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Voters along the south coast of British Columbia who have not cast their ballots yet will have to contend with heavy rain and high winds from an incoming atmospheric river weather system on election day.
Environment Canada says the weather system will bring prolonged heavy rain to Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast, Fraser Valley, Howe Sound, Whistler and Vancouver Island starting Friday.
The agency says strong winds with gusts up to 80 kilometres an hour will also develop on Saturday — the day thousands are expected to go to the polls across B.C. — in parts of Vancouver Island and Metro Vancouver.
Wednesday was the last day for advance voting, which started on Oct. 10.
More than 180,000 voters cast their votes Wednesday — the most ever on an advance voting day in B.C., beating the record set just days earlier on Oct. 10 of more than 170,000 votes.
Environment Canada says voters in the area of the atmospheric river can expect around 70 millimetres of precipitation generally and up to 100 millimetres along the coastal mountains, while parts of Vancouver Island could see as much as 200 millimetres of rainfall for the weekend.
An atmospheric river system in November 2021 created severe flooding and landslides that at one point severed most rail links between Vancouver’s port and the rest of Canada while inundating communities in the Fraser Valley and B.C. Interior.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
