The capital region’s hot real estate market saw the number of sales hit a 10-year high for February as multiple offers poured in and buyers moved to Vancouver Island from Vancouver.
This is a seller’s market. Inventory is down from last year and buyers are competing for homes in desirable areas.
Buyers are increasingly ready to make offers that are tens of thousands of dollars above the listed price. Some capital region houses have surpassed asking prices by more than $100,000 in recent weeks.
“We continue to see the effect of supply and demand on the market,” Mike Nugent, president of the Victoria Real Estate Board, said today.
The total number of properties for sale was 2,562 in February, a drop by 26.4 per cent from 3,480 the previous year.
Last month saw 772 sales through the Victoria Real Estate Board’s multiple listing service.
That’s up by 42.4 per cent from the 542 properties sold in February 2015.
The highest number of sales for February in the past decade was in 2007 with 663 sales, the year before the recession hit and real estate slumped.
Sellers are reaping the benefits of the latest real estate boom.
The benchmark value for a single-family home in the core was $638,700 last month, the board said in its monthly sales report released today.
In February of last year, the benchmark price was lower at $557,000.
Even so, inventory rose slightly from January when there were 2,471 listings through the board.
“Areas near the downtown core have limited inventory, with less new product coming on to the market,” Nugent said.
“As a result we see more pressure on price there and we see multiple offers.”
The West Shore and outlying areas are seeing less competition because those locations are able to create more housing stock, Nugent said.
In the West Shore, the benchmark price for a single family home is $432,600, making that area more affordable, he said.
Sales also powered up on Vancouver Island north of the Malahat, where inventory is tight as well.
“We are seeing multiple offers in many transactions throughout the board area because there are more buyers than sellers,” Margo Hoffman, president of the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board, said.
“We are beginning to see some migration from Vancouver that isn’t retirement focused.
“An interesting development we’re watching is young professionals who are trading in their homes for a significantly nicer property on Vancouver Island and then commute to their jobs on the Lower Mainland.”
It’s easier to commute these days than in the past, Hoffman said, citing ferries, float planes, and helicopter service.
A total of 407 single-family homes sold last month, up by 44 per cent from 282 in February 2015.
As with Victoria, available inventory shrank year-over-year.
The benchmark price for a single-family house rose to $340,900 last month, up by 5.78 per cent from the previous year.
