Victoria’s real-estate market delivered a mixed bag of gains and losses in July as the industry found relative balance between buyers and sellers, according to the Victoria Real Estate Board’s latest Multiple Listings Service data.

 

Total property sales reached 650 units in July via MLS, compared to 595 a year ago and 522 in July of 2022. New listings also outpaced last July, with 1,319 units hitting the market compared to 1,125 in 2023. However, July’s fresh units continued a downward trend since May’s 1,757 new listings, suggesting sellers will not be facing a glut of competition any time soon, and buyers can expect competition for desirable properties. Total active inventory fell from June’s 3,460 units, to 3,348 in July. A year ago, June had 2,342 active listings and July had 2,419.

 

“We appear to have reached a high point for new listings and active inventory, and unless there is a drastic economic change that forces more sellers to enter the market, approximately 3,400 units for sale is what we can expect into the fall,” says Victoria realtor, Marko Juras (see website). “And even though 3,400 units can seem high, nearly 5,200 units were on the market in July of 2012 when sellers did face significant price pressure, and this was at a time when the local population was much lower than it currently is.”

 

Prices paid for single-family homes listed on MLS reached an average of $1,299,841 across 319 sales between Sooke and Sidney, with a median of $1,130,000. In June, the average paid for a house was $1,268,241, albeit the median was higher at $1,185,000, suggesting Victoria’s price plateau for houses is currently entrenched in the range of a $1.3 million average. Last July there were 293 sales.

 

Condominiums continued their downward price trajectory from a peak 2024 average of $628,092 set in March, to land at $585,223 in July, at a median of $525,000. In March, the median was $555,000. Nevertheless, July saw 213 sales via MLS, compared to 200 one year ago.

 

“There is no question there remains downward price pressure on condominiums in downtown Victoria, where a variety of factors are impacting that segment of the market,” Juras said. “Outside of downtown Victoria, condominium demand remains strong, with two-bedroom, two-bath units remaining top-of-mind among buyers. With downtown being the dominant condominium market, what happens there tends to set the direction for the region as a whole, but the story of downtown is most definitely not shared across the region.”

 

Townhomes, with 81 sales in July, fetched an average price of $845,756 at a median of $785,000. Both figures are gains over June, and the average in July was the highest since February’s $848,059. Last July there were 74 sales.

 

The year-to-date average and median between January and July of this year are $1,283,528 and $1,150,000, respectively, for single-family homes, over 2,069 sales. Condominiums are averaging $600,743 at a $542,500 median so far in 2024, across 1,299 sales, and townhomes are averaging $820,662, at a $782,000 median, over 517 sales.

 

Looking towards fall, Juras believes price stabilization is here to stay until the spring, when anticipated changes to interest rates and political outcomes following the provincial election will begin to show their effect.

 

“Prices are likely to trend sideways as we move from summer into fall, but the potential for a deviation is there for the busy spring season if we see continued rate adjustments by the Bank of Canada. What happens politically this fall could also have an impact, especially if policies with downward pressure on the market introduced by the current government are cancelled or amended by a new government,” Juras said, adding that “most importantly for the condominium market, lower interest rates will help stabilize values, and depending on just how far down the rates will go, they could also spur the investor market to re-consider acquisitions with a concentration on downtown Victoria.” C

 

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