Victoria Real Estate Hit a New Record High

Victoria Real Estate Hit a New Record High of $573,415
Victoria Real Estate is one hot commodity.

The number of sales of homes and other properties in the Greater Victoria Real Estate area surged to the highest level for the month of June in over 15 years last month. There were 949 sales through the Victoria Real Estate Board’s Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in June, up nearly 25 per cent from the 762 sales in the same month a year ago. Through out the Victoria Real Estate Area there were 963 sales in May of this year. Meantime, the average price of single family homes sold in June hit a new record high of $573,415; the median price was considerably lower at $501,500; the six-month average was $553,323.

When looking at stats you always have juggle the numbers and look at the full picture. There were 23 sales of single family homes for over $1 million. The overall average price can be skewed higher due to sales at the high end of the market and while this is the first time that the median price for single family homes has topped $500,000, it’s important to note that nearly a third of single family homes last month sold for under $425,000. What does all these sales figures from last month show? Well we think it shows consumer confidence in the market and that it will remain very strong. Total sales so far this year are running nearly eight percent higher than in the first six months of last year. I personally think (as I have mentioned many times before) the average price for a single family dwelling in Victoria will be around $600,000 by the end of this year.

The average price for all condominiums sold in Victoria in June was $348,089; the average for the last six months was $316,226. The median was again lower at $275,500. The average price for Victoria townhomes last month was $406,606; the average for the last six months was $392,507. The median was $379,900.

MLS® sales last month included 530 single family homes, 241 condominiums, 99 town-homes and 22 manufactured homes.

There were 3,550 properties listed for sale on the MLS® system at the end of last month, up 13% from the 3,147 properties in the same month a year ago.

Saanich Real Estate Market - New Houses, Homes

Surge in building of new houses
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Darron Kloster, Times Colonist
Published: Tuesday, October 10, 2006
There was more residential construction activity in the Greater Victoria region during September than any other month in the past 16 years, according to new data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

Last month’s 387 housing starts — which included 139 apartment units in Victoria — was the busiest month since April 1990 but still well below that boom period when 615 units were rising.

Peggy Prill, senior analyst for the federal housing agency, called September “an unusually strong month” as Victoria and parts of Vancouver Island continued to buck the national trend toward a softening construction market.

Builders, however, were cautioning about reading too much into the latest numbers, saying September may have been a perfect storm where zoning issues, construction timetables and pre-sell conditions on several projects may have come through at the same time. The CMHC takes its monthly inventory based on the start of building off a foundation.

Still, the numbers for building on Vancouver Island continue to be impressive. New hosing starts from Campbell River to the capital hit 671 units in September, well ahead of the 549 units started in August and the 540 underway in September 2005. Overall, the Island has had 3,625 housing starts this year — 288 more than a year ago.

In Greater Victoria for the first nine months of the year there have been 1,980 residential construction starts, an increase of 421 from the same period a year ago. Of last month’s 387 starts, 270 were apartment units in Victoria, Saanich and Langford. The total also included 71 single detached homes, including 25 in Langford and 18 in Saanich.

In Campbell River the number of new homes is up to 268 for the first nine months, an increase of 53 per cent. Parksville-Qualicum area has 263 new residential units so far this year, up from the 200 started over the first nine months of 2005.

Duncan, Nanaimo and Courtenay all showed decreases year to date. Nanaimo slowed the most, showing just 55 starts last month compared to 233 in September 2005. Overall this year, the harbour city has 600 new starts, 126 fewer than the first nine months of 2005.

Prill said the positive influences of Victoria’s economy — a national low unemployment rate, unprecedented job growth and increasing migration levels from other provinces — have fuelled the surge in new housing.

Across Canada, housing starts edged down 2.5 per cent from August levels to 211,300 starts in September. B.C. homebuilding held steady to 29,800 in September compared with 29,400 the previous month. The figures are seasonally adjusted at an annual rate.

Casey Edge, executive director of Victoria’s Canadian Homebuilders Association, said the increasing numbers of condominiums under construction points to an “affordability issue” that is only getting worse in Victoria. He said land costs are escalating and the costs of materials and labour are inching higher at a rate “where it’s going to outstrip people’s ability to pay.”

He said three levels of government have to work together to ease some of the costs of building new homes, such as taking the initiatives to increase zoning for townhouses and other forms of housing, reducing development cost charges, re-tooling the GST rebate on new homes and easing other costly building regulations.

The cost of existing homes is also squeezing consumers, despite increasing inventory on local real estate markets. Darrell Paysen, president of the Vancouver Island Real Estate Association, which covers properties from the Malahat to Port Hardy, said the average prices of a single family home last month was $306,000, a 15 per cent increase from September 2005. In Greater Victoria, the average was $545,172 and the median $471,000. More than a third of homes sold in Victoria were under $400,000 and 43 per cent of condos sold for less than $240,000.

Caveat emptor when buying Victoria condos

Caveat emptor when buying condos

Consumers cautioned about perils of pre-purchasing condominiums

She got her $8,000 deposit back - with interest.

But while Andrea Kucherawy was waiting in vain for her Pandora Avenue condominium to be built, her chances of getting into the real estate market went from slim to none.

A teacher at a local photography school, Kucherawy purchased a unit in the ill-fated Bambu project almost two years ago. But early this year, developer Anthem Properties scrapped the project, citing rising construction costs, and refunded the deposits of close to 140 people who had pre-purchased units in the building.

In the interim, rising real estate prices have left first-time home-buyers like Kucherawy on the outside looking in.

"I have been so deflated since then that I haven't even been looking at the market," she said. "It was a real reality check to what I can afford."

While most new home buyers have traditionally opted for dwellings that have already been built, pre-purchasing has become commonplace in recent years and especially during the recent real estate boom.

Typically, the developer will pre-sell enough units to convince a bank or other lender to finance the project. In a volatile market, this reduces the developer's risk and, if all goes well, provides the buyer with a brand-new unit at price slightly below the going rate.

However, certain projects in Greater Victoria have either been scrapped or delayed due to rising costs, leaving buyers with money tied up in a half-finished building or, like Kucherawy, priced out of a market they could barely afford to begin with.

Scott Kendrew, president of the Victoria Real Estate Board, said it's crucial for home buyers to read all the paperwork carefully, especially when buying something that has yet to be built.

"We've advised our sales people to make sure people fully understand all the paperwork they've signed," Kendrew said. "You're buying something you can't touch feel or see, so there's a risk attached to that."

Most contracts contain a due date for the project after which the developer is obligated to provide a refund. Contracts can also contain important disclosure information about the project's financing and local government approvals, he added.

The increase in pre-sold dwelling units is due in part to changes in the province's Real Estate Act, that have loosened the rules around financial and technical disclosure, Kendrew said.

Casey Edge, executive officer of the Canadian Home Builders Association in Victoria, advises anyone interested in pre-purchasing a condominium to research the background of the developer.

"Find out who is building it, what's their history, are they a member of a professional association and for how many years," Edge said. "A condominium project is not like buying a house or a spec house because the expense the builder has put out is partly transferred to the buyer."

Another thing to be aware of is that there are no minimum education requirement to be a builder in B.C., leaving consumers to tell the bad from the good.

"A person that's a designated builder might not know anything about building science," Edge said.

That's advice Greater Victoria resident Holly Courtright could have used when she was looking at condominiums last year.

A University of Victoria employee, Courtright paid $190,000 to pre-purchase a suite near the Goldstream Avenue Tim Horton's outlet last year. Although the project "seems to be moving right along," Courtright admits she could have done a better job of due diligence.

"I'm just looking for an affordable place to live. That's why I went to Langford. It's just crazy, the amount of money that it costs," she said. "I know a lot of the developments in Victoria are not getting finished, but nothing was discussed with me as far as risk-taking. Being a first-timer, I didn't even think about it."

Often, locally based developers have a better track record and more direct access to experienced trades people, while out-of-town developers may have trouble finding qualified workers to build their projects.

"Developers in town tend to keep their sub-trades happy and the subs know these guys will be in town to build when the market cools off," Kendrew said.

By Brennan Clarke
Saanich News
Jun 28 2006

Single females amassing Victoria property

Single women make up the second-largest number of home buyers in the United States, according to the latest real estate statistics.
And the figures seem to be similar in B.C., said Carol Geurts, managing broker at Royal LePage Coast Capital Realty on the West Shore.
"There's a lot more females coming into the market," said the former Victoria Real Estate Board president who is "not surprised" at U.S. National Association of Realtors latest figures showing that single women account for at least 21 per cent of all real estate transactions south of the border.
Single women buying homes havae become so common that she no longer notices the gender of home buyers.
"It's not something I consciously think about - not something I give a lot of thought to," said Geurts.
Women are now buying homes at a faster rate than the general population, said Diana McMeekin, president of Artemis Marketing Group Inc.
"The majority of people actually making the decision to purchase a new home has continued to be women - 80 per cent of all home purchasing decisions made by women," she said.
The reason is simple, said McMeekin.
"The income of the average working woman in North America is climbing and she now earns 85 per cent of the income of her male counterpart - significantly up from five years ago."
McMeekin's research has found that by 2010 there will 31 million female owned households in the United States.
Her research also found:
In 2000 twice as many single women vs. single men bought homes
In 1999 for the first time ever more single women owned homes than rented them.
In the past 10 years there has been a 52 per cent increase in single female buyers.
Recent American figures show women now account for 47 per cent of condominium owners and are second only to married couples who bought 59 per cent of homes.
By contrast, single males were 11 per cent of buyers in the U.S., while unmarried couples accounted for only eight per cent.
Gender sales statistics are not kept by national, provincial, or local real estate organizations in Canada.
Gary McInnis, current Victoria board president, agrees there "are lots of single women in the market" but wouldn't guess at the actual percentage of home sales females account for.
Women also account for a growing percentage of real estate sales people.
Glenn Terrell, board executive officer, said the ratio of female realtors has jumped in this region from about 10 per cent several years ago to just under 40 per cent now - 411 female realtors and 723 males.
Builders, developers, and realtors are finally starting to "get it," according to real estate writer Tom Kelly.
"They now are well aware that women make a majority of the decisions in the home-buying process and that they no longer are merely housewives of a nuclear family." he wrote.
"Today, women are independent, empowered, educated and employed - and often single," he said.

By Rudy Haugeneder
Victoria News
Dec 09 2005

Capital Region District Victoria Housing Market

The elderly are starting to abandon the Capital Region - either dying faster than expected or unable to afford to live here.
Whatever the case, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation can't explain why its annual B.C. Seniors' Housing Market Survey projects a lot less elderly people living here five years from now - 613 fewer people age 75 and over.
"It's surprising," admits local CMHC Vancouver Island market analyst Peggy Prill who didn't know why the number of elderly will decline here, but increase everywhere else.
She didn't dispute that the high cost of affordable housing - ownership or rental - might be a factor.
It's something Victoria Community Housing spokesman David Scott said "is just too expensive" for many to afford.
The average price for single family homes in the region last month was $482,000, with the average for condominiums being just over $255,500, according to Victoria Real Estate Board figures.
Prill said the projected drop in senior numbers may also be the result of "mortality rates for people here now," she said. "It's science but there is some judgement involved" in the way the survey was compiled.
David O'Neil, BC Stats population section manager, called it a demographic "blip" that will continue through 2012 after which the number of those 75 and older will spiral, hitting a projected 57,000 by 2031.
Hidden on a number chart in the 20-page survey report were the following figures: Metro Victoria's 2005 population of 329,685 included 32,153 people age 75-plus.
Five years later, the population is projected to be 338,723 with only 31,540 seniors over 75.
Elsewhere across Vancouver Island and B.C. - except New Westminster which will suffer a decline of 180 elderly - the number of old people will continue to spiral.
The two exceptions fly in the face of population projects by BC Stats, which says "both the share an overall population of retirement age (65+) will continue to increase significantly - from 13.2 per cent in 2001 to 22.6 per cent in 2031."
In fact, Vancouver Island will have even more elderly than average. A BC Stats chart says the senior population on the Island should hit over 26 per cent by then.
The "very senior" population (80+) will also increase very significantly" across the province, it says, growing from 3.3 per cent of the population in 2001 to 6.1 per cent in 2031.
O'Neil said population projections are "what if" possibilities that apply only when all factors used to calculate such figures fall exactly into place, he said, including in-migration, mortality rates among specific age groups, and the number of people in each age group that are expected to make it to age 75 and older.
As he told Prill in an email: "You should remember that even though these are 'only projections' prone to error . . . even if we had no migration (or more) we would still see pretty much the same patterns."

Victoria's Dockside Green

Victoria's City Council unanimously approved the rezoning application for Dockside Green, a development project which will take 15 acres of brownfield in Victoria West and transform it into a vibrant, mixed use community dedicated to the triple bottom line approach to sustainable development and LEED Platinum certification.

Once complete Dockside Green will be a community for 2,500 people incorporating the very highest green standards. The $350-million project includes residential, live/work, hotel, retail, office and light industrial uses. It will comprise of 26 buildings totalling 1.3 million square feet.

"As a company dedicated to working with local groups and societies to improve the quality of life in communities, Dockside Green is a project we can all be proud of," says President & CEO Jacques Khouri, Vancity Enterprises, one of the co-developers of the project. "Our goal is to transform traditional development practices and we know we will do that with this community."

"The city and province of BC showed great leadership in supporting this project", says Joe Van Belleghem, Managing Partner of co-developer Windmill Developments." We have set unprecedented goals to become LEED Platinum certified, creating a community that will lead the world in sustainable development."

This approval to move ahead comes after four years of work by the City of Victoria. Over 30 public consultations were held and it is the single largest piece of land available for development that the city currently owns. Ownership of the land will be transferred to Vancity Enterprises and Windmill Developments at the end of the month. They will then begin remediation of the land in preparation for phase one of the 10-12 year build-out.

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System(r) is a voluntary, consensus-based national standard for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings. Points are awarded to buildings that incorporate the design and construction practices and technologies listed in LEED. By accumulating points, a building can achieve a rating of LEED Certified, Silver, Gold or Platinum.

The co-developers have committed to an allocation of $3,000,000 (with an escalation factor for inflation) over the course of the build-out of Dockside Green to be specifically used for the development of affordable housing. The Dockside Affordable Housing Committee will determine the number, size, tenure and location of units, as well as management of these units.

The next step for Dockside Green is remediation of the land. In the meantime, a presentation centre will be opened on Wharf Street in late October, highlighting the upcoming real estate opportunities and providing a venue for people to learn more about sustainable development.

Continued Strength in Real Estate Market

Continued Strength in Real Estate Market October 3, 2005
September was another strong month for the Victoria area real estate market with stable prices and sales up by nearly ten percent compared to September of last year.

There were 714 sales of homes and other properties through the Victoria Real Estate Board’s Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) last month, down from the 753 sales in August but up from the 650 sales in September of last year.

Victoria Real Estate Board President, Gary McInnis, notes that average prices continue to be affected by high-end sales with 14 sales last month of over $1 million, including four in Oak Bay and three on the Gulf Islands. "It’s important to remember, however, that properties are available in a wide price range. Over 28 per cent of single family sales were for less than $350,000 last month and nearly 43 percent of all condominiums sold for less than $200,000."

The average price for single family homes in Greater Victoria last month was $481,786; the average for the last six months was $470,561. The median price for single family homes at $419,950 was substantially less than the average. The average price for all condominiums sold in September was $255,558; the average for the last six months was $247,034. The median was again lower at $212,900. The average price for townhomes in September was $353,255; the average for the last six months was $346,184.

McInnis notes that the number of properties of all kinds available for sale continues to increase modestly. "In September there were 2,436 properties available for sale -- up slightly from the 2,416 available in the same month a year ago."

MLS® sales last month included 406 single family homes, 176 condominiums, 66 townhomes and 13 manufactured homes.

Victoria Real Estate News

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