Victoria’s real-estate market roared in October with a sales surge of 60.7% compared to last year, as property transactions reached 654 units amid stable pricing and growing consumer confidence, according to the latest Multiple Listings Service (MLS) data from the Victoria Real Estate Board (VREB).

 

October saw the strongest single-family-home sales performance for the first full month of fall since 2020, with 340 deals via MLS at an average of $1,250,408 and a median of $1,142,000, with the median eclipsing last year’s $1,125,000 while the average landed slightly shy of October 2023’s $1,259,028 (across 193 sales).

 

187 condominiums changed hands via MLS in October, a jump well above 141 deals a year ago, with an average price of $591,661 and a median of $513,750, both metrics falling short of the previous year’s $616,545 average and $540,000 median.

 

“The single-family-home market saw a surge in buying activity in October that we can attribute to favourable interest rates and significant pent-up demand among buyers waiting for an opportunistic entry point, and October’s interest rate drop appears to have delivered that motivation,” says Ryan Cook, a Victoria-based real-estate agent with brokerage Remax Camosun (see website).

 

“As for condominiums, we had a more bullish response from buyers this year than last, but there remains significant up-side opportunity in that segment that we anticipate to be realized once a clear direction on social solutions emerges in the City of Victoria, where so much of our condo inventory is centred,” Cook says, adding that “if we continue to see positive social changes in the city centre, the largest and most comprehensive condominium market will benefit from that stability.”

 

Townhomes averaged $811,307 at a median of $771,450 across 73 MLS transactions, representing a considerable jump from 2023’s 42 sales, which averaged a near identical $881,235, albeit with a lower median of $747,648.

 

The VREB reports active listings in October dropped to 3,161 from 3,361 in September, and ended the month nearly 15% higher than last October’s 2,756. New listings for the month totalled 1,204 units compared to 1,100 last year, and below September’s 1,441 units.

 

Overall, Victoria’s housing market, Cook says, is starting to feel the impact from lower interest rates, despite the fall and winter periods traditionally being the slowest for home sales.

 

“The market is responding positively to interest rates on a sustained downward trajectory, and based on feedback from buyers actively searching for a new home, this spring will bring more financial maneuverability for them, and more buyers will be empowered for a jump from condominiums to townhomes, and from townhomes to single-family homes,” Cook said. “Once we move through the fall and winter, we are expecting the 2025 spring season to have a vigour that just wouldn’t be there if the Bank of Canada rate was not at 3.75%, and likely to edge even closer to 3% come spring.”

 

Commercial purchasers are also finding favourable rates as a motivating factor. In October, 39 commercial deals closed, a relatively strong showing for a market segment that often faces much higher interest rates than consumer mortgages, and stricter financing requirements. C

 

© Copyright 2024 by Citified.ca. All rights reserved.