Real-estate records were smashed yet again in Victoria as newly released November sales data shows single-family-dwelling and condominium prices catapulted to all-time highs, according to figures from the Victoria Real-Estate Board.

 

 

November’s average price paid for a single-family-home totalled $1,330,251, firmly outpacing October’s record average of $1,311,271. The median price, or the exact mid-point of what buyers paid throughout the month, settled at a record high of $1,235,000, beating out the former record set in October at $1,202,500. Single-family-dwellings accounted for 276 of the month’s cross-market 653 transactions via the Multiple Listings Service (MLS).

 

“The biggest underlying story of what's driving these prices is the active listings, or rather the lack of active listings," says Marko Juras, a Victoria realtor.

 

"We are officially seeing the first time since we began keeping active listing statistics in 1996, where we are under 1,000-units of real-estate inventory on the MLS, of which just under 600 listings are residential properties. This means the residential marketing is operating on an almost one-to-one listing-to-purchase ratio, arguably making the current period the best time in recent history to be a seller in Greater Victoria.”

 

Condominiums also saw their average and median valuations rise to record highs with an average of $648,867 paid per unit in November across 236 MLS sales, and a median price of $585,000. In October the average and median totalled $620,859 and $545,895, respectively.

 

Townhomes fell back from a record high average set in October of $855,894, although November’s median outpaced October’s then-record $797,895. Townhomes saw average price points settle at $807,289 in November and a median of $800,536 across 76 sales.

 

The tight supply has created a scenario where bidding wars and unconditional offers are the norm, Juras says, and the larger the residence, the more demand it is likely to generate.

 

"Single-family-homes and large two-bedroom, two-bath condominiums are generating significant interest and it is more common than not to have multiple buyers competing for the same property through bidding scenarios, and ready to make offers that forgo inspection stipulations or a waiting period to secure financing," Juras said.

 

"If you're a buyer that has to qualify for a mortgage following an accepted offer, or if your budget is limited, you're going to face a significant challenge if you find yourself competing with buyers that can afford to stretch their finances and have their mortgage financing in place, or can purchase a property without a mortgage."

 

All eyes are currently on what will happen come spring, Juras says, when the provincial government is expected to introduce cooling-off legislation that is already mandated when purchasing pre-sale homes. The new legislation will give buyers with an accepted offer up to a week to back out of a deal.

 

"How next spring's planned cooling off period legislation will impact the dynamics of the market remains to be seen, although I do not believe we are going to see price adjustments as a response, primarily because supply and demand are the dominant forces at-play, under virtually all scenarios, in a real-estate market," Juras said.

 

The province will introduce the new measure as a way to lessen the impact of unconditional offers that have become a staple of real-estate transactions in markets like Victoria's since early 2020. C

 

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