The volume of January property sales on southern Vancouver Island may not have broken records, but the cost of residential real-estate certainly did.

 

The average sticker price among 193 single-family-dwellings sold throughout the B.C. capital skyrocketed to a record-setting $925,715, 15% higher than one year ago. The median price, or the value of the one home in the middle of the pack, rose 15.4% to $785,000 and just $10,000 shy of September, 2017’s $795,000 all-time median record.

 

Data compiled by the Victoria Real-Estate Board paints a picture of a strong seller’s market and one that could be a wild ride for homebuyers for the remainder of the year, says Victoria REALTOR® Marko Juras.

 

“With the stress test, rising interest rates and the rising cost of real-estate on southern Vancouver Island I thought we would see far less activity than we did, but if the first 31 days of 2018 are any indication buyers clearly want in, they’re willing to pay a premium and they obviously feel that despite the already high prices they are lower than they may soon be.”

 

January ended with 431 property sales, a drop from 478 one year ago. Of those sales approximately 50 were commercial properties and the remainder were split between houses, condominiums, townhomes and modular homes.

 

But despite the relative buying frenzy and the prices paid, it was the condominium market, Juras says, that caught him off guard.

 

“I never would have guessed the condo market would generate as much activity as it did this January, where price records were set and buyers were willing to pay more than the seller’s asking price in nearly half of all transactions.”

 

40% of condominiums sold in January ended with prices in excess of the seller’s initial ask. That’s at twice the rate of single-family-dwellings selling for more than the listed price, and a strong indicator of what’s to come.

 

“118 condos sold last month for a record-setting average price of $495,718. One year ago the average was just under $371,000. So what we saw was an absolutely astronomical year-over-year increase of nearly 34% in the value of these homes, plus the median price set a new record at $415,000,” Juras said.

 

Townhomes were also in demand and drove the second highest January sales volume for that sector of the market since record-keeping began in 1992. Total sales reached 62 for the month.

 

The inventory of residential property remains low with approximately 1,000 active residential listings and nearly 500 non-residential listings. That’s a far cry from several thousands active listings available at any one time just a few years ago and a driving factor behind Victoria’s real-estate values appreciating as much and as fast as they have.

 

“With listings remaining as low as they are, the demand that’s out there, and the realization that interest rates are likely to keep rising, I suspect we’re going to see far more of what we saw in January as we move into the spring buying season,” Juras says.

 

“The only outcome from the current situation, provided the overall economy remains where it is, is strong demand forcing prices even higher.” C