Greater Victoria’s COVID-19 era will be marked with a duo of real-estate records following yet another head-turning month of buying activity during the summer of 2020.

 

 

Figures released by the Greater Victoria Real-Estate Board show purchasers paid an average of $1,021,323 for a single-family-dwelling sold through the Multiple Listings Service (MLS), surpassing June’s record-breaking $1,014,746 average that landed south Island house sales above the million dollar mark for the first time. And helping push the numbers in July beyond June's were 13 sales above $3 million, which itself was the highest monthly total for the upper echelon of local residential real-estate.

 

“Quite a lot of the single-family-home uptake we saw in July had to do with pent-up demand from a slow spring, and we did see over a dozen acquisitions of luxury real-estate that on its own was responsible for nearly $50 million in sales and that had a significant impact on average valuations,” said Marko Juras, a Victoria-based REALTOR. “June, and now July, have been exceptionally busy months in light of broader market impacts, and we’re likely to see this wave of buying extend into August.” 

 

But the price paid for a free-standing family home is not the only record set in July.

 

The volume of total sales from Sooke to Sidney, which in addition to houses includes purchases of condominiums, townhomes, commercial properties and mobile homes, surged well past July of 2019’s 706 sales to 979, a spectacular 39% uplift that even beat out July of 2016 (which held the record for the month at 972 sales) and outpaced over three years of monthly market activity.

 

Condominiums, however, continued to see depressed uptake as several challenges facing that segment of the market lingered into July.

 

The average price paid for units in multi-family buildings, of which 239 sold, remained virtually flat at $480,614. The year began with the average hovering just below $500,000 before sliding to $421,512 in March.

 

“Condos are still facing a number of impediments, like the adjustment to a new normal for insurance rates, the implications of living in a higher density environment during COVID, and some pockets of the region continue to face social issues that are hindering demand, but we're seeing positive signs through a return to the ten-year average for sales and a relatively rapid rise in the averages being paid,” Juras said.

 

By the numbers, single-family-homes accounted for 559 of June’s 979 sales. Townhomes, which are often described throughout Victoria as the ‘missing middle’ due to their relatively low numbers on the south Island with price points between condominiums and single-family-dwellings, saw 124 transactions that averaged $589,594.

 

And down from last July were active listings on the MLS, which fell 10% to 2,653 from 2,949 during the same period in 2019.

 

The combined volume of sales for 2020 has reached 4,113 and has been cumulatively valued at just below $3.1 billion.

 

As for the fall, Juras believes the market is heading for a slowdown as pent-up demand is absorbed over the summer months.

 

“We’re likely to see the buying frenzy subside in the coming weeks as we head into the fall and demand, particularly for single-family-homes, is satiated throughout August and into September,” Juras says. “What the remainder of 2020 holds for Victoria’s real-estate market remains to be seen, but thus far the year has been a whirlwind of surprises and that could translate into expecting more of the unexpected as we head into 2021.” C

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