November Real Estate Sales Rise

December 1, 2010

The number of property sales throughout Greater Victoria rose in November. Prices, meantime, remained mixed with gains for condominiums but some declines for single family homes and townhomes. A total of 479 homes and other properties sold in November through the Victoria Real Estate Board’s Multiple listing Service® (MLS®), up slightly from the 467 sales in October. There were 604 sales in November of last year.

Victoria Real Estate Board President, Randi Masters, noted that the number of sales has now risen for two consecutive months, “The further increase in sales in November adds more weight to our belief that the market has now returned to a stable, balanced state.” Masters added that with declining inventories, some further increase in sales can be expected next year while prices will likely remain stable. “There were 3,723 properties available for sale at the end of November – a decline of some 300 properties compared to October though still 25 per cent higher than a year ago,” added Masters.

The average price for single-family homes sold in Greater Victoria last month was $636,634, down from $641,780 in October. The median price declined to $530,000. The six-month average also declined slightly to $623,941. There were 20 single family home sales of over $1 million in November including one sale in Oak Bay of over $5 million. There were 12 sales of over $1 million in October. The overall average price for condominiums was $349,512 last month, up from $323,522 in October. The average for the last six months rose to $325,196. The median price for condominiums in November rose to $290,000. The average price of all townhomes sold last month declined to $416,067 from $446,026 in October. The median price declined to $395,000. The six month average was $430,437.

MLS® sales last month included 264 single family homes, 123 condominiums, 47 townhomes and 17 manufactured homes.

Summary Report and Graphs

Monthly Sales Summary
Average Selling Price Graphs
Active Listings, New Listings and Sales Graphs

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For More Information

Michael Sampson
Manager, Communications Business Conduct
Phone: +1 (250) 385-7766
Fax: +1 (250) 385-8773
E-Mail: Michael Sampson

The use of average price information can be
useful in establishing trends when applied over
a period of time, i.e. six months or longer.
The Victoria Real Estate Board cautions that
an average price does not indicate the actual
value of any particular property. Those requiring
specific information on property values should
contact a REALTOR.

Standalone
Print Version of Current MLS® Page

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November 1, 2010

The number of property sales throughout Greater Victoria rose in October while prices remained mixed. A total of 467 homes and other properties sold in October through the Victoria Real Estate Board’s Multiple listing Service® (MLS®), up 18 per cent from the 395 sales in September. There were 742 sales in October of last year.

Victoria Real Estate Board President, Randi Masters, noted that the number of sales in October was similar to the levels seen in the late 1990s. “We were pleased to see market activity pick up last month with sales now more closely reflective of the balanced market a decade ago prior to the very active years between 2001 and 2009.”

The average price for single-family homes sold in Greater Victoria last month was $641,780 up from $599,825 in September. The median price rose to $539,500. The six-month average also rose to $627,263. There were 12 single family home sales of over $1 million in October including one sale in Central Saanich of over $6 million. Masters added that this sale, together with an increase in the value of waterfront sales last month, affected the overall average price. “Higher-priced sales can significantly affect the overall average price and it is important to note that while the median price of single family homes also rose last month, the increase was substantially less than the increase in the average price.” There were 11 sales of over $1 million in September. The overall average price for condominiums was $323,522 last month, up from $295,463 in September. The average for the last six months was $321,381. The median price for condominiums in October declined to $278,500. The average price of all townhomes sold last month rose to $446,026 from $439,040 in September. The median price declined slightly to $421,250. The six month average was $432,723.

The number of properties available for sale at the end of last month declined slightly to 4,046 but this was still 26 per cent higher compared to the 3,219 available properties in October of last year.

MLS® sales last month included 252 single family homes, 128 condominiums, 50 townhomes and 15 manufactured homes.

Summary Report and Graphs

Monthly Sales Summary
Average Selling Price Graphs
Active Listings, New Listings and Sales Graphs

These documents are stored in PDF format. If
your browser already has a PDF plug-in like the
Adobe Acrobat® Reader, you’ll probably be able
to simply click on the document you’re interested
in to view it here online. You can download and
install this popular, free software by clicking
the yellow icon below.

For More Information

Michael Sampson

Manager, Communications Business Conduct

Phone: +1 (250) 385-7766

Fax: +1 (250) 385-8773

E-Mail: Michael Sampson

The use of average price information can be
useful in establishing trends when applied over
a period of time, i.e. six months or longer.
The Victoria Real Estate Board cautions that
an average price does not indicate the actual
value of any particular property. Those requiring
specific information on property values should
contact a REALTOR.

Standalone
Print Version of Current MLS® Page

Subscribe to the RSS Feed for this Page

A total of 395 homes and other properties sold in September 2010, through the MLS which is less than the 425 sales made in August. This is also a dismal showing compared to the 776 real estate sales in September of 2009. There was a surge of sales activity during the end of the month, so hopefully October 2010 will show an increase in sales. Strangely these September figures included the sale of 8 properties at over $1m, which is quite a feat in these times with such a poor financial prognosis.

Sadly, the 4,323 properties still for sale is an increase of 26% compared to the 3,419 available for the same month in 2009.

Unfortunately it seems that the property market has been badly hit by the current recession and matters are getting worse. So what can you do about these problems? The solution seems to be to prepare your house well for sale and find yourself an experienced and seasoned Realtor to sell your house. Your Realtor will be able to provide you with suggestions as how to improve the marketability of your real estate. Then you need to be patient and prepared to accept less for your house than you would have done a few years ago.

Ref: Canadian MLS Statistics