Ron's Candid Comments on Victoria's Real Estate Market for June 2016

With the reduced supply available for sale as expected there was a 9% decline to 1,174 sales last month compared to May 2016’s record setting 1,289 sales. This remains historically high and 29% higher than the 910 properties sold in June of 2015.

It seems certain that there would undoubtedly be more sales if there were more available, however, supply is short with only 2,289 available listings at the end of June, down 43% from the 4,003 available at the end of June 2015. This equates to slightly less than just a 2 month overall supply and is continuing to result in upward pressure on prices from many competing buyers.

Year over year from June 2015 to June 2015 the overall MLS Home Price Index Benchmark for homes in Victoria’s Core is up 22% from $594,700 to $724,900 . Expect to see a big jump in your BC Assessment Property Value when you get your update in January 2017! Value changes vary significantly by property type, neighbourhood and price range. For an accurate value assessment of your property please contact us for a FREE consultation and your own customized neighbourhood property value report.

Every day I’m asked to predict the future. Of course I polish up my crystal ball and respond with “while supply is low and demand is high, expect to see our prices increase” or “the market will go up and then the market will go down and then it will repeat”. Seriously though, I still firmly believe that we are overdue to increase, that it’s “our turn”. I think we’ve still got more catching up to do. There are MANY variables and factors that affect the market which is primarily driven by consumer confidence. As long as people generally believe it’s a good time to buy and this is a good place to buy, our market will be pushed upwards. Things like Brexit can change things in a flash. Will our government bring in taxes or restrictions on foreign ownership? Will immigration policies change to restrict the inflow of foreign wealth? Will there be further mortgage policy shifts or interest rate increases? Will oil go back over $100 per barrel? There are so many wild cards that factor into our market the only thing that is certain is that the market will continue to change, up or down! Vancouver has enjoyed more than 10 years of rising prices (so far) while we stayed fairly flat for about 8 years. Will we get a 10 year run too, or will we catch up in just 2?