The holiday season is rapidly approaching, and the Victoria Real Estate Market is looking forward to a long overdue rest. The last three years have been a roller coaster ride like none ever seen before in our market, and the results were record high prices, record low listing inventory, and record high sales volumes. This past year has been the beginning of a market reversal, which has resulted in lower sales, higher listing levels, limited multiple offer situations, and gradual average price drops since this past summer. The ride appears to be over for this busy market cycle but that is not a bad thing. We should see a return to a normal balanced market in 2019, which will be a welcome return for those looking to get into the market or those looking to sell and make a move to a new home.
The November sales volume throughout Greater Victoria decreased significantly from November, 2017 as well as from October 2018. Sales of condominiums were down 30.9 per cent from last year in November with 152 units sold. Sales of single family homes were down 20.8 per cent from 2017 with 267 sold this November. Over all, the trend of monthly lower sales numbers throughout Greater Victoria has been consistent for all of 2018 compared to the previous 2 years.
There was a total of 2,343 active listings for sale on the Victoria Real Estate Board Multiple Listing Service® at the end of November 2018, which was an increase of 32.8 per cent compared to November 2017. However, the ten year average of listing inventory in Greater Victoria is about 3200 homes going into the winter months, so the levels are still on the lower side. This has resulted in a fairly strong market overall for 2018 but has also created some holes in the high priced market leading to the current downward trend for average prices. Currently, the average price for a Single Family home is sitting at about $865,200, down slightly from the average price of $881,000 in October, 2018.
Today there is less urgency in our real estate market which helps to relieve some of the stresses of buying and selling. The overall market has slowed down to a more comfortable level. The market tends to naturally slow down in the winter, so I would expect we will have a more balanced market heading into the new year. Also, the forecasters are predicting further price drops into 2019. The bank of Canada has indicated that interest rates should remain unchanged for the foreseeable future, and this is a welcome change compared to the last 6 months of rate increases. Having said that, there appears to be upward pressures on Canadian interest rates, and if the US trade wars decrease, and oil prices increase, then we could see a return to a rate increase policy by the Bank of Canada.
In the meantime, enjoy the Holiday Season and I wish everyone a Happy and Healthy New Year as we go into 2019.
If you or any of your friends or relatives require any real estate related information or assistance please call or contact me through my website: www.dalesheppard.com. Or call or text me at 250-744-0844. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
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