There was only a slight change in the market from July 2020 to August 2020 in the Victoria area. The two months shared the exact same number of sales, though the later month saw a slight decrease in inventory and SFD Benchmark prices.
Specifically, August saw 979 sales (again, same as July) which was a 48.1% increase from August the previous year. Single family home sales rose 45% year over year (509 sales) and condos rose 29.1% in the same period (262 sales). As we said last month “these are some very big numbers for the month and if nothing else, great indicators that this is not a normal market.”
Despite many homeowners seeing the opportunity present to them in the current market, the high levels of sales and demand from buyers continue to
Commercial Activity Impacted by Pandemic in 2020 Q2
To view the full Commercial Leading Indicator PDF, click here.
The BCREA Commercial Leading Indicator (CLI) continued to fall in the second quarter of 2020 from 127.6 to 121.9, representing the fourth consecutive quarterly decline. It was the second-largest drop in the indicator in over two decades, reflecting the hardest hit months of the pandemic in April and May. Compared to the same time last year, the index was down by 9.8 percent.
The second quarter of 2020 saw the complete shutdown of key economic industries in BC, while employment continued to decline in manufacturing and in key real estate sectors. In contrast, the financial component had the largest positive impact on the
BC Monthly Real GDP Estimate for June 2020 & Preliminary Estimate for July 2020 (Updated: August 28, 2020)
The BCREA Nowcast estimate of provincial economic growth (expressed as year-over-year growth in real GDP) for June 2020 is -5.7 percent. For comparison, the Canadian economy contracted 7.8 percent year-over-year in June.
We have also included a preliminary estimate for July 2020 of -4.2 percent. While year-over-year growth remains negative, the rate of decline is slowing as the economy continues to improve on a monthly basis.
Another good news report. Retail sales were up for a second consecutive month in June by 24% on a seasonally-adjusted basis, this follows a 21% rise in May. Sales were up in all subsectors, with growth primarily led by motor vehicle and parts dealers, as well as clothing. Retail sales in June were 1.3% higher than pre-pandemic levels in February. The June report puts second-quarter retail sales at 13% below the first-quarter report.
Sales were up in all provinces in June, the most notable increases were in Ontario (34%), Quebec (24%), Nova Scotia (23%) and Alberta (19%). In BC, seasonally-adjusted retail sales were up by 13% ($7.4 billion) and by 18% ($3.4 billion) in Vancouver. Retail
Vancouver, BC – August 13, 2020.The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 10,090 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in July 2020, an increase of 26.6 percent from July 2019. The average MLS® residential price in BC was $770,810, a 12.9 percent increase from $682,702 recorded the previous year. Total sales dollar volume in July was $7.8 billion, a 43 percent increase over 2019.
“The strong recovery in sales activity continued in July,” said BCREA Chief Economist Brendon Ogmundson. “Increased demand for more living space combined with an undersupplied market is producing significant upward pressure on home prices,
Canadian housing starts increased by 16% m/m to 245,604 units in July at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR), which was well above pre-COVID levels. This brought up the national housing starts six-month average to 204,376 units SAAR. Housing starts were up across the country with notable growth in the Prairies and Atlantic Canada.
In BC, housing starts were up 9% m/m to 42,381 units SAAR in July, following an increase of 38,840 in June. The increase was primarily driven by the multi-unit segment. Housing starts in July are back at pre-COVID levels. That being said, housing starts in the province showed resilience during the height of the pandemic when restrictions were the tightest. In
Single family home sales returned to near-normal levels this July with 574 sales, only 1 unit sale over June 2020, and 20 sales over July the previous year. Condos on the other hand still struggle as buyers seem to look to get out of multi-family building situations. July saw a 14% decrease in condo sales compared to the same month last year and townhouse sales decreased by 16%. All together sales were down 4% year over year with a grand total of 892 properties sold.
While sales levels begin to return to normal, inventory is still low (on a provincial level). The pressure from low inventory and returning demand from buyers has led to an increase in price across many market areas including Vancouver Island. The board-wide benchmark price for single
July 2020 continued to be unusually active in the Victoria Real Estate market, especially in the single family home segment. Sales of single family homes were up a whopping 61.1% compared to July last year while condos sales also rose by 11.2% in the same year over year comparison. There were 979 total board-wide (559 SFD, 239 condos) sales in July, altogether up 21.2% over June 2020 and 38.7% up from last year. These are some very big numbers for the month and if nothing else, great indicators that this is not a normal market.
The increase in activity also saw many new listings coming on to the market but not enough to outpace the number of sales. July saw a 10% decrease in available listings year over year and a 1.7% decrease compared to June
Canadian employment grew by 419,000 jobs in July (2.4%, m/m). Combined with gains in May of 290,000 and gains in June of 953,000, this brought national employment to within 1.3 million of the pre-COVID February level. The national unemployment rate fell by 1.4 percentage points to 10.9 per cent from the previous month. Most of the employment gains in July were in part-time work. Compared to the same month last year, Canadian employment was down by 6.3% (-1.2 million).
Regionally, all provinces reported an increase in employment except New Brunswick, where employment was little changed. The strongest gains were in Ontario which were almost all in part-time work, reflecting the later easing of
The BCREA Economics team has created the COVID-19 Reopening Dashboard to help REALTORS® monitor the evolution of the BC economy as the province gradually reopens. 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.
To monitor the province’s progress toward a “new normal,” we benchmark each indicator to February 2020, the month before the pandemic was declared. This dashboard will be updated each month.
BCREA's updated COVID-19 Reopening Dashboard is available here.
