The Neal Estate Team's Victoria Real Estate Update for February 2020

The new year started strong with 411 properties sold in the VREB (Victoria Real Estate Board) area, compared to the 329 sales in January of 2019 (a 24.9% increase), although the total sales volume only crept up 2.2% from December 2019. Single-family home sales volume was up 31.6% compared to January last year while condos were only up 6.3% January to January.

The available inventory of active listings stayed close to the December numbers with only 6 more listings, bringing the total to 1,958. This number isn’t too far off January 2019 active listing numbers which came in at 2,057.

Competition for the low and mid-price ranged properties is continuing to build as sales increase and inventory remains steady, following the classic supply-demand relationship. Many of the government initiatives to aid mid-range buyers and combat the demand side of the Real Estate market have come up short. The federal First Time Home Buyers Incentive which was introduced to counteract the limiting nature of the earlier introduced mortgage “Stress Test” was only used by 4 people in Victoria (3,000 Canada wide). With a three-year target of lending $1.25 billion and only $55 million lent to date the incentive still has a long way to go for giving first-time buyers more options.

As part of a coordinated global effort to counteract the negative impact of the Coronavirus, Canada's Central Bank reduced the key lending rates by 50 basis points. Our economy is very strong both locally and nationally and I would expect us to weather this storm.

Victoria Core HPI Benchmark price in January 2020 for a single-family home was $858,500 up 1.4%, from $846,900 in January 2019 and up 0.4%, from $855,000 in December 2019. Benchmark value for condos in Victoria core had a benchmark price of $521,100 up 4.1%, from $500,500 in January 2019 and less than a percent up from the December 2019 benchmark price of $520,700.

Correctly presented properties are continuing to sell. There are abundant opportunities depending on your area, property type, and price range, especially for moving-up buyers. Please contact us for a free consultation with a Neal Estate Team Area Specialist.

P.S. Ask us about our new home seller programs for INSTANT OFFER or Your Home Sold in 30 Days...Or We Sell it *FREE! Click HERE for Free Market Value Estimate!

The Neal Estate Team
Your Victoria & Vancouver Island Real Estate Experts
“Go with those who know!”
www.RonNeal.com
www.HomesOnVancouverIsland.ca