February’s real-estate activity throughout Greater Victoria delivered another round of high price and low inventory records as the housing market began shifting towards the busy spring buying season.

 

 

Victoria Real-Estate Board data via the Multiple Listings Service (MLS) saw condominiums and single-family-dwellings post new median price records of $620,800 and $1,280,000, respectively, amid strong demand for both types of housing and record-low supply. Townhome purchases, meanwhile, set a new average price peak of $926,157.

 

In total for the month, 718 properties changed hands on the re-sale market compared to 863 last February and 474 in January.

 

Single-family-homes, which saw sales jump over January’s total of 179 to 309 transactions, settled at an average price of $1,410,313, or $67 shy of the all-time average high from January. One year-ago, the average for single-family-homes was $1,160,938 and $899,443 in 2020.

 

267 condominium sales averaged at $678,862, a slight fall from the all-time high average in January of $683,759.

 

“February represented much the same sentiment that shaped 2021, with ultra-low volumes of re-sale inventory helping to sustain prices across the whole market spectrum,” said Marko Juras, a Victoria-based realtor. “The last month was also the in-between of a winter market transitioning into the spring period as more homeowners weigh options to sell and buyers start taking advantage of nice weather for touring properties and attending open houses.”

 

Townhome sales in February, representing a fast growing market segment seen as a housing type that combines the space of single-family-homes with densities like condominiums, pushed its average price closer to the million dollar mark with $926,157 and a median of $838,500. The average broke a new record, and the median landed in second place behind January’s $861,250.

 

Overall, the market saw just 849 active real-estate listings on the MLS, meaning February’s 718 purchases were a near one-to-one listing-to-sales ratio in light of the lowest inventory count for the month, ever, and the second-lowest monthly period since record-keeping began in the mid-1990s. Last February active listings numbered 1,318 and a year before 2,127 properties were on the market.

 

“Once more, the story is really one of limited inventory to purchase and demand that is far out-stripping the supply of homes and commercial properties,” Juras said. “Until we see more balance introduced through a major increase in listings, the factors behind rising prices will remain in play and continue supporting a strong seller’s market.”

 

That being said, Juras believes March and April are going to serve as bellwether months for the south Island’s real-estate industry as the busiest buying season picks up steam.

 

“The next 60 days will contend with a lot of changes, like a potential for rising interest rates, new measures form the province, and geo-political pressures from conflict in Europe,” says Juras. “From the industry side of the equation, we are monitoring how external forces impact the local market, and how political measures are absorbed by sellers who have enjoyed a prolonged advantage, and buyers who have financially reached to afford the going rates of Victoria homes.” C

 

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