October’s real-estate transactions pushed prices across three dominant residential market segments to new heights as a record low of re-sale inventory stressed supply and played firmly into sellers’ hands, according to the latest data from the Victoria Real-Estate Board.

 

 

Single-family-homes, which have been posting record high prices all year via sales on the Multiple Listings Service, surged above a peak set in August at $1.22 million, to land at $1,311,271 in October.

 

The new price point is uncharted territory for Greater Victoria, which saw average single-family-home prices at below $1 million in 2020, and under $900,000 in 2019.

 

“Persistent, sustained demand for the most coveted segment of the real-estate market resulted in the highest average and median prices paid, ever, for single-family-homes, averaging $1.3 million and a median of $1.2 million,” said Marko Juras, a Victoria-based real-estate agent. “Pushed out of the market either by price or the lack of supply, buyers set their sights on the next market tier, and that also rocketed the prices of condominiums and townhomes into uncharted territory.”

 

Condominiums, which averaged $484,000 in 2020, had an average re-sale price of $620,859 last month. The previous record, set in September, was $590,706. The median reached a new record at $545,895.

 

Townhomes, meanwhile, averaged a record high at $855,894 and the median struck a new high of $797,895. In 2020 townhomes averaged $614,000.

 

With all cylinders firing, the Victoria real-estate market only managed to yield 745 transactions in October, far below last October’s 990 total. The sales to listings ratio, meanwhile, is nearly one-to-one and this, Juras believes, is a sign of things to come.

 

“The fear among potential sellers is not being able to buy back into the market,” Juras said. “If there were more properties for sale we’d some semblance of balance, but right now, where we stand, it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy where sellers are concerned about selling despite the high prices being paid, and are forgoing sales. Buyers, meanwhile, are paying record high prices for what is available with competition for desirable properties quite fierce. So the question is, who blinks first?” C

 

Receive Citified's timely real-estate news straight to your inbox. Sign up for our newsletter, and connect with us on Facebook: