The first half of 2016 has ended as the busiest real-estate sales period – ever – in metropolitan Victoria, according to statistics revealed by the Victoria Real-Estate Board.

A total of 6,181 properties were sold over the first six months of the year through the Multiple Listings Service (MLS), an increase of over 45% (or 1,899 sales) between the same period last year. While the MLS does not include figures for private sales or the majority of new-build pre-sales of condos, townhomes or single-family-dwellings, developers have indicated to Citified that transactions for the latter market segments have also been strong.

Prior to this year the busiest period of sales activity between the months of January and June was set 25-years-ago in 1991, totaling just shy of 5,000 transactions. This year's buying frenzy has broken that record by nearly 24%.

The surge in sales, attributed to growing demand from retirees, Vancouverites pushed out of the Metro Vancouver real-estate market and Victorians eager to get into their own market, has resulted in consecutive months of record-setting sales between March and May, the latter ending with 1,289 transactions. June, although not a record-setting month, has ended as the busiest June on record.

Inventory, however, has continued to drop. Compared to the same period last year, listings on the MLS are down from 4,003 to 2,289, a decrease of 43%. With high sales volumes and relatively few properties on the market, industry analysts expect prices to remain elevated while demand far outstrips available inventory. C

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