All Blog Entries by Ron Neal

We are nearing the end of a year that has been challenging for many and surprisingly abundant for others.  

We feel blessed and filled with gratitude for our abundance. We are especially grateful for our relationships, the support of family, friends, colleagues, clients, and our community. In the spirit of giving back, we look for opportunities to give back to those who need a hand. Because no one should go without for Christmas, we have continued our yearly donation of 100 Turkeys to the Mustard Seed Food Bank, we have also funded and will serve over 600 Christmas meals at Our Place. We funded our annual Christmas in July for Our Place too. Together with our office, RE/MAX Alliance, we are once again participating in the Festival of Trees (check

'Gratitude is not only the greatest of all virtues, but the parent

of all the others' ~ Cicero.

Gratitude … what is it exactly? In terms of psychology, the study of gratitude began only a few years ago. It is clear though that it has been treated throughout history as one of humankind’s main and most attractive virtues.

The word “gratitude” has its roots in the Latin gratia, which means favor, and in gratus, which means welcome. The dictionary defines gratitude as the feeling that forces us to appreciate the benefit or favor that we have received, and to correspond in some way. And so we can think of gratitude as recognition of the goodness in something received from outside of ourselves, and a movement from within towards giving or sharing

The Vancouver Island Real Estate Board Area finally started to see the beginning of a seasonal slowdown, while still far outpacing sales volume compared to last year. At the same time, inventory continued to lag and is likely to fall behind further as we head into the holiday season.

December 2020 saw a 19% decrease in sales volume of single-family homes compared to November. Another reason, other than seasonality, that could be at fault for the slow down is the lack of available listing, which we will talk about later. While slower than October, November was still 33% higher in sales volume than the same month last year with 422 sales. The market continues to surprise.

Condos had a similar story to single-family homes except that this segment had

Low supply continued to dominate the Victoria Real Estate market once again in November 2020. Although some of the normal seasonality started to make itself felt (with a 19.7% decrease in sales volume from the previous month), November 2020 still came close to the 30-year record of sales for the month of November. There were 795 total sales (37.8% up year over year), 375 of the sales were single-family homes (up 21.8% y/y), and 262 of the sales were condos (up 62.7% y/y). Our Team participated 1 of every 33 sold last month, 3% of the market of 1,397 Realtors!

At first glance, it seems that the condo market is now leading the charge in demand as that segment saw the biggest jump in sales volume, in reality, the lower numbers posted in single-family

Canadian Quarterly Real GDP Q3'2020  - December 1, 2020

Following a record contraction of the Canadian economy in the first half of 2020, the third quarter saw a vigorous rebound in economic growth.  Real GDP was up 8.9 per cent in the third quarter, or 40.5 per cent on an annualized basis, bringing the economy back to about 5 per cent of its pre-COVID-19 level.   Household spending rebounded, rising 13 per cent in the quarter, while investment in housing was up 30.2 per cent. Household savings, while down from its record setting second quarter, continues to be elevated through the pandemic and registered 14.6% in the third quarter. That compares to just 2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2019.

The distressing second wave of COVID-19, and

BC Monthly Real GDP Estimate for September 2020 & Preliminary Estimate for October 2020 (Updated: December 1, 2020)

The BCREA Nowcast estimate of provincial economic growth (expressed as year-over-year growth in real GDP) for September is -1.6 per cent. For comparison, output in the Canadian economy was 3.9 per cent lower year-over-year in September. We have also included a preliminary estimate for October 2020 of -1.1 per cent.

Download the full report (PDF)

For more information, please contact:

BCREA is the professional association for more than 23,000 REALTORS® in BC, focusing on provincial issues that impact real estate. Working with the

Commercial Activity Rebounded in Q3 2020

The BCREA Commercial Leading Indicator (CLI) rebounded in the third quarter of 2020 from 122.3 to 136.9, representing the first increase after four consecutive quarterly declines. It was the largest increase in the indicator since the start of the CLI series in 1999, reflecting a recovery from a significant drop in the first half of 2020, due to strict COVID-19 containment measures. Compared to the same time last year, the index was up by 1.3 percent.

The third quarter of 2020 saw the resurgence of key economic industries in BC, particularly the hard-hit retail sector, as brick-and-mortar stores reopened and travel restrictions in the province were eased. Employment in key real estate sectors and

COVID-19 Reopening Dashboard - Nov 25, 2020

The BCREA Economics team has created the COVID-19 Reopening Dashboard to help REALTORS® monitor the evolution of the economy as BC navigates the recovery. This dashboard focuses on the sectors and activities that have been most significantly impacted by the pandemic and the province’s subsequent state of emergency. Home sales continued to be robust in October, sustained by record-low interest rates and a recovering job market. 

To monitor the province’s progress, we benchmark each indicator to February 2020, the month before the pandemic was declared. This dashboard is updated each month.

BCREA's updated COVID-19 Reopening Dashboard is available here.

For more information, please contact:

Thoroughly Updated Family Home with Suite

Welcome to 10349 Patricia Pl, a thoroughly updated 5 bedrooms 3 baths total Family Home including 1 bed/bath suite.

Located in a quiet cul-de-sac with plenty of parking this beautiful family home has had extensive upgrades (ask for information sheet) including a new roof, siding, windows, high-efficiency gas furnace, and hot water tank.

The upper level has a large kitchen with plenty of storage, new cabinets, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, and heated tile flooring which is open to the spacious living and dining areas with wood burning fireplace.

Down the hall, you will find 3 nicely appointed bedrooms (the fourth being downstairs), the master having a walk-in closet and

Canadian Retail Sales (Sept) - November 20, 2020

Retail sales rose for the fifth consecutive month in September by 1.1% on a seasonally-adjusted basis, which is higher than Statistic Canada's preliminary estimate of no change. Sales were up in 9 of 11 subsectors, representing 93.2% of retail sales. The increase was led by higher sales at auto dealers. General merchandise stores increased for the first time in three months, while sales bounced back at furniture and home furnishing stores. Compared to the same time last year, retail sales were up by 8%.    

Sales were up in eight provinces in September, with notable increases in PEI (4.4%), New Brunswick (3.8%) and Alberta (2.5%). In BC, seasonally-adjusted retail sales were up by 1.7%