While our weather cooled our real estate market certainly didn’t! The number of listings has been slowly declining over the past year relative to the previous year and the inventory of actively available listings for sale dropped suddenly and sharply by almost 10% between the end of September and about the middle of October from nearly 4,400 listings to less than 4,000. Sales increased from the previous month and were also up over the same month last year. Overall conditions are trending again to a balanced market with the ratio of listings to sales for the month now equaling a 6.5 month supply. Of course there are different trends and markets being experienced in different areas, property types and price ranges. For information specific to your own

…

As a RE/MAX Agent I have been blessed with many opportunities. I’ve made it a significant part of my business to network and get to know associates all over BC, Canada, the USA and the rest of the RE/MAX World in 95 countries. After many years and conferences, seminars, sales rallies, speaking engagements, hockey tournaments, iron chef competitions, ski days and other social events I’ve gotten to know formed friendships with colleagues, many of the most successful in the business, who we mutually trust to assist our relocating clients. There is rarely a week that goes by without my receiving a call or an email introducing me and asking me to help a colleague’s client from outside of our area who needs a Realtor’s assistance in Victoria. The reverse is also…

September saw a drop in our sales volume compared to August, contrary to our typical seasonal variations. Sales volume peaked in May with 714 sales and has been trending lower each month since down to 565 sales in September from 609 in August, but still up substantially from the same time last year. The number of active listings has also continued to trend lower, down to 4,253 at the end of September, keeping the market in balance overall with the supply now at 7.5 months. The market continues to be supported by relocating buyers moving into and investing in our market including an increasing trend of buyers from China. For information on sales and listings specific to your own neighborhood, please visit www.RonNeal.com for FREE helpful real time

…

We are currently working with more than 100 registered and qualified buyers who are want to buy homes and investment properties in Greater Victoria. Here are just a few of their wants:

1. Fixer Upper with suite potential in Saanich up to $600,000
2. Gordon Head with three bedrooms up and suite down up to $750,000
3. Cadboro Bay Executive Home to maximum $1 Million
4. Rentable Condo with water views up to $350,000
5. Uplands Character Home with water views under $2.5 Million
6. Five Bedroom + Suite in Broadmead, Cordova Bay or Oak Bay up to $900,000
7. Acreage in Central Saanich up to $1 Million
8. House With Separate Workshop in Central Saanich or Saanich West under $600,000
9. High End Finished Strata in Sidney or Cordova Bay up to $650,000
10. Three

…

The trend in Greater Victoria Real Estate over the past year and a half of increased sales and decreasing listing continued this August with 12% more sales compared to August of 2013 and also a slight decline in the total number of listings available for sale down to 4,316 from 4,593 at the end of August last year. With 609 residential sales for the month, up from 540 in August of last year, the ratio of sales to listings for the month dropped from an 8.5 month supply a year ago to just a 7.1 month supply now. Following historical trends we can probably expect a slight increase in the number of listings available in the fall. The general consensus is that we are in a balanced market although some areas and property types are clearly performing better than

…

According to Wikipedia, Green building (also known as green construction or sustainable building) refers to a structure and use of a process that is environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle: from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and demolition. This requires close cooperation of the design team, the architects, the engineers, and the client at all project stages. The Green Building practice expands and complements the classical building design concerns of economy, utility, durability, and comfort. Although new technologies are constantly being developed to complement current practices in creating greener structures, the common objective is that green buildings are designed to…

As our summer weather heated up so did sales with almost 100 more sales in July of this year compared to July of 2013 and right on track with June’s sales volume. There were again more than 1,200 new listings for the month and the resulting total number of residential listings for sale at the end of July was 4,570. The simple math is that 14.9% of available listings sold during the month or about 1 in 6.5, all in all a balanced market but still favoring buyers in my opinion. We are experiencing a surge of relocating buyers from other parts of BC, Canada and International Immigrants. Also, there seems to be a small increase in investor interest/buying, although significantly restricted by tight lending rules. I have been successfully finding ways to get…

While our market is generally viewed as balanced now, the market varies considerably by area, property type and price range. Activity is strong in Greater Victoria’s most popular areas including south of Fort Street (Fairfield, James Bay and Rockland), east of Foul Bay (all of Oak Bay) and the University area (including Mt Tolmie, Gordon Head, Mt Doug, Cadboro Bay, Ten Mile Point, Queenswood and Arbutus). Activity in other areas is generally vastly improved compared to a couple years ago, however, rural areas and high end are still over supplied and not recovering as rapidly as the most popular areas. Our market is considered balanced by most when 15-20% of the supply is selling each month. In Oak Bay last month 18% of the available listings sold and 20%…

Victoria’s Empress Hotel was recently sold before most people even knew that it was being offered for sale!  A Vancouver developer, Nat Bosa, closed on the 106 year old hotel sale less than 3 weeks after it was announced for sale.  It had been previously owned by Ivanhoe Cambridge, a Quebec pension fund company, who had purchased the Empress Hotel in 2007.  The hotel offers 477 rooms and was designed by the same architect as BC’s legislature and BC Assessment showed the value of the Empress at $89.9 million, although the sale price has not been released to the public. The Empress Hotel is a national treasure rich in history (and ghostly sightings).  There are many reports that ghosts and apparitions haunt the iconic hotel, including a ghost said to be…

There is a bit of panic going on regarding the new Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (aka CASL). I have received several emails recently from various companies and organizations asking that I "provide consent," "opt-in" or "confirm subscription." Some from companies I know I have subscribed to and others I know I have not subscribed to and a few that lie somewhere in between (implied consent).

For any company that has been doing legitimate email marketing up until now, legitimate meaning you have a double opt-in subscribe form on your website, then you need not worry, you have received explicit consent and are acting within the CASL. The following section from CASL explains it clearly: Knowing that people and businesses may need to change their

…