Reviewing February’s Real Estate Market on Vancouver Island, we saw seasonal factors come into play while underlying factors continue to show tight sales and tighter inventory. Across both sales and inventory, we saw increases from January but decreases from the previous year. What that means is that the beginning of spring has brought out both sellers and buyers (as is usual), but not enough sellers to change the market conditions, and that sales are being restricted by the inventory.

Digging into the numbers, there was a total of 1281 sales on all of Vancouver Island in February 2022. 563 of those sales were in the Vancouver Island board area (VIREB) and the rest were in the Victoria board area (VREB). If you are interested in the Victoria numbers

Reviewing February, Victoria’s Real Estate Market continues to find itself in rather tight conditions. Two and a half months into the new year and it is less a question of which metric is up and which is down and more a question of which metric is down less. We are still very clearly deep in a seller's market and despite a seasonally adjusted decrease in sales and month-over-month increase in inventory we still aren’t seeing any strong indicators of short-term change. 

The 105 unit increase of listings in February from January is certainly a boon for buyers but falls short of what could have been hoped for in regards to moving us closer to a balanced market. For example, new listings are down for the month of February compared to both 2021 and

Canadian Employment (February 2022) - March 11, 2022

Canadian employment rose by 337,000 (+1.8%) in February more than reversing a 200,000 decline in January driven by Omicron-related public health measures, according to Statistics Canada. The labour market is increasingly tight, with the Canadian unemployment rate declining to 5.5%, a level lower than prior to the pandemic in February 2020 (5.7%) for the first time. The total hours worked (+3.6%) as well as the employment rate (+1.0%) also rose strongly. 

As public health measures were partly lifted by the survey reference week in February, gains were concentrated in the Accommodation and Food Services (+114,000; +12.6%), and Information, Culture and Recreation (+73,000; +9.9%)

A Newly Built Three Level Home

Welcome to 3500 Myles Mansell Road, a newly built three-level home in the Westshore only minutes to town centre.  

High-end finishing throughout, the main level features engineered hardwood floors, large windows for loads of light, a cozy fireplace, and custom lighting throughout.  

Open concept living with a private patio connected to a spacious family room, dining room, and chef-inspired kitchen complete with a large island, quartz countertops, gas range, and custom cabinetry.  

Upstairs you will find three generous-sized bedrooms, the primary featuring a large walk-in closet with built-ins, another fireplace, and a spa-like ensuite with a soaker tub, dual sinks, and a walk-in shower.  

Down is an

Executive Home on Private Lake

Welcome home to 5216 Stag Rd, a serene half-acre property with private dock on the beautiful Fork Lake, a stunning 10 Acre spring-fed lake, located in the eastern Highlands and bordering on, and with private access to, Mount  Work Regional Park.

You'll feel a million miles away from it all, yet just minutes to all that you need with 30 mins to Downtown Victoria and just 15  minutes to Millstreams big-box shopping district.

This is one of Victoria's best-kept secrets! 

The Beautifully updated 4 Bed, 4 Bath home is perched just above and boasts amazing views of this pristine lake from much of the home, but the tranquility found relaxing in your back yard, on the huge new two tear deck, or from the hot tub

CLI Dips in Fourth Quarter 2021

The BCREA Commercial Leading Indicator (CLI) fell to 149.7 from 150.6 in the fourth quarter of 2021, representing the second consecutive decline since the economy began recovering from the recession induced by COVID-19. Compared to the same time in 2020, the index was up by 3.8 per cent.

The CLI dropped in the fourth quarter due to declines in the financial and employment components of the index. The decline in the employment component of the index was driven by a 4.1 per cent decline in finance, insurance, and real estate (FIRE) employment and a 6.2 per cent decline in professional services employment. Workers in sales and services occupations drove much of those declines, with workers in this subsector down

Luxury custom built home on triangle mountain 

Luxury custom built home on triangle mountain perched looking over the neighborhood and forests beyond.

Easy care lot with great use of space for parking and privacy.

Main level entry with a desirable open floor plan featuring a family room, office, dining room, living room and large gourmet kitchen with cherry cabinets and stainless steel appliances.

A warm home with fir planking, 9-foot ceilings, wrap-around deck and over 3300 square feet of luxury living.

The master bedroom has a walk-in closet and ensuite with heated floors, walk-in shower and a large jetted tub.

Laundry is conveniently located upstairs as well; two more bedrooms and bath complete this level.

Downstairs the

Bank of Canada Interest Rate Announcement -
March 2, 2022

BC Monthly Real GDP Estimate for December 2021 and Preliminary Estimate for January 2022

The BCREA Nowcast estimate of provincial economic growth (expressed as year-over-year growth in real GDP) for December 2021 is 5.1 per cent. For comparison, year-over-year growth in the Canadian economy in December was 3.9 per cent. The preliminary estimate for January 2022 is 4.2 per cent. The BCREA Nowcast estimate of average growth in the BC economy in 2021 was 6.3 per cent. The 4.2 per cent estimated growth in January is the second highest starting point in the history of the Nowcast. Growth in January 2000 started at a Nowcast estimate of 4.5 per cent and ultimately actual real GDP growth for that year was 4.55 per cent.

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Canadian Monthly Economic Growth (December 2021) - March 1, 2022

The Canadian economy remained essentially flat on a month-over-month basis in December amid new restrictions implemented to control the Omicron variant. Canadian real GDP is roughly 0.3 per cent above its pre-pandemic, February 2020 level. Preliminary estimates suggest that output in the Canadian economy grew 0.2% in January.

Growth in 2021 clocked-in at a robust 4.6 per cent, while the economy accelerated in the fourth quarter with real GDP growth hitting 6.7 per cent annualized. Even with an expected Omicron driven slowdown in the first quarter of 2022, the Canadian economy is clearly on a very strong growth path. At its most recent meeting, the Bank of Canada noted that the