Real Estate Prices Skyrocket in Victoria BC!

Why invest in Real Estate in Victoria, BC? Why invest in Real Estate in British Columbia or any other province? The answer is simple, it is one of the best investment you can make.

First of all if you purchase a property as your principal residence you provide shelter for you and your family. If you have life insurance on your mortgage and if something did happen to you, your family has a home that is paid off. When you go to sell your principal residence, and say you have made a $300,000 profit, this money/profit is tax free. This is a great thing particularily with todays advancing house prices in Victoria
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If you look back at how the Real Estate prices have increased since 1978 it is pretty incredible, for your convenience we also have it in a graph format thanks to Victoria Real Estate Board.

A recent article in the Times Colonist by Carla Wilson looks at Real Estate prices over the last decade. It reads:

Real estate prices skyrocket, returns rise over past decade

The last decade in Greater Victoria’s real estate market delivered an average 7.8 per cent annual compounded rate of return, said a report from real estate company Re/Max.

Across Canada, the rate was lower at 7.1 per cent, but showed average home prices nearly doubled from $154,606 in 1997 to $307,265 last year. The total number of sales also rose, topping 500,000 in 2007 compared with 331,092 in 1997.

Last month, the average selling price of a house in Greater Victoria was $606,449, with a median price of $530,200. The Multiple Listing Service shows seven properties listed at more than $14.5 million

B.C. prices rose most significantly in the past five years, Elton Ash, executive regional vice-president of Re/Max in western Canada, said yesterday. He anticipates a more balanced market in 2008, resulting in an average increase of about seven per cent.

“Immigration and in-migration have played a serious role in jump-starting residential housing markets, particularly in B.C., Alberta and, to some extent, Saskatchewan over the past decade,” Ash said. Economic strength, low interest rates, low unemployment and consumer confidence have all driven sales.

As prices went up, “There has been huge movement by investors to buy condominiums either to hold for the short term or long term,” he said. The average selling price of a Greater Victoria condominium last month was $349,045, with a median price of $326,904.

Dunnery Best, managing director, portfolio manager and investment adviser with CIBC Wood Gundy in Victoria, recommends taking into account expenses such as taxes, insurance, maintenance and improvements when looking at property value increases.

“If the average goes up by 7.8 per cent, the fact is in many cases you are not netting that.”
Although homes are an important part of many people’s investment portfolios, they should remember that, despite strength in local real estate, markets can also go the other direction for a sustained period, he said. Also, a property may be difficult to sell or not bring in an expected price.

In addition, “the environment of declining interest rates is over,” Best said. He warned that extrapolating from the past decade to the next decade is “faulty logic.”

Although Tony Joe, Victoria Real Estate Board president, would have preferred a bigger move, he said the province’s decision, announced this week, to increase the property purchase tax exemption to $425,000 from $375,000 helps make homes more affordable. It may allow qualifying buyers to spend money on improvements or needed items for their home.

First-time homebuyers in B.C. are choosing condominiums at close to double the rate of buyers elsewhere in Canada, said a report released yesterday by Genworth Financial.

An average of 14 per cent of British Columbians surveyed said they had either bought a condo or were planning to do so.

“The condo markets in Vancouver and Victoria remain vibrant — both cities are estimated to have posted record-high starts volumes in 2007. Condos are filling the need for relatively affordable housing in the province where available land for new home construction is limited …,” said Genworth president Peter Vukanovich. First-time condo buyers in B.C. can expect to pay the highest rate in the country, the report said.

In Greater Victoria, condominium prices range widely, from about $55,000 for fractional ownership typically of vacation units, to more than $1 million for luxury homes.
When it comes to buying condos, out-of-town buyers often prefer the downtown or Songhees near the harbour, while local residents are likely to buy in buildings such as the Strathmore in Langford, said Re/Max Camosun real estate agent Guy Crozier. “We find that our buyers tend to be more local young people getting into the market,” he said.

Remaining units in the Strathmore include a loft for under $300,000. Some buyers are downsizing from larger homes and want features such as granite countertops and hardwood floors, Crozier said.

End of article. Carla Wilson can be reached at cjwilson@tc.canwest.com

If you have any comments on the above or Real Estate questions please drop us a note.

Cheers
Bill

Bill Ethier B.Sc - REALTOR®

Properties in Victoria Professionals - Royal LePage Coast Capital Realty

Bill has been a REALTOR® in Victoria since 2006. Originally from the Vancouver area, Bill moved to Victoria to attend the University of Victoria where he received his Bachelor of Science. Not only does Bill have a wealth of real estate knowledge he is also an active member of the community. He is a member of Triple Shot Cycling Club, Island Road Racers and is the Race Director for the Sooke River 10K.

Prestigious Real Estate in Victoria BC - Luxury New Listing

The Properties in Victoria Team are proud to announce another hot new prestigious listing in Victoria BC. This gem is located on the very desirable Olive street in South Fairfiled - one of the most desirable areas to live in Victoria. It is within blocks to the Ocean and minutes to all your amenaties. This prestigious house has a west facing private backyard and patio. Professionally landscaped. Interior ready for your casual lifestyle with kitchen renovations featured on the 2006 Young Life's Home Tour with granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances, Gessi Quadro High Tech faucet, Sirius range hood and so much more - new carpet, paint. Flexible spaces 3-4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, studio/gym & more.

If you are interested in more information on this property or other luxury listings in the Greater Victoria area please do not hesitate to contact us or log onto our website.

If luxury is not what you are looking for we also have numerous other properties on our website as well as we have access to all the MLS® listings in the Greater Victoria area.

Cheers

Bill

Bill Ethier B.Sc - REALTOR®

Properties in Victoria Professionals - Royal LePage Coast Capital Realty

Bill has been a REALTOR® in Victoria since 2006. Originally from the Vancouver area, Bill moved to Victoria to attend the University of Victoria where he received his Bachelor of Science. Not only does Bill have a wealth of real estate knowledge he is also an active member of the community. He is a member of Triple Shot Cycling Club, Island Road Racers and is the Race Director for the Sooke River 10K.

Real Estate in Victoria BC - Vancouver is in the news

Our good friend and exceptional REALTOR® Matt Collinge is at it again. He has posted the latest stats for the Vancouver Real Estate Market. Vancouver, being Victoria's bigger brother, is always a great indicator as to how healthy the Canadian West coast market is and will be.

So with out further delay here is what Matt has to say about his market.

Vancouver BC Real Estate: Housing Starts Up In January

Well its Friday and Fridays are for fun and Vancouver housing starts aren't very fun, but CMHC just released the January housing starts numbers so here we are. Housing starts must for fun for someone. The numbers are good with housing starts for last month in Vancouver keeping pace with January last year. Detached (CMHC calls them "single family homes", seems logical, if not necessary logical in Vancouver) home starts were down slightly, but this was nicely off-set by a slight increase in what CMHC calls multiple unit (condo and townhouse) starts.

There are some nice tables and graphs in the CMHC report but it is a secured pdf so I can't copy them into the post here, but I will attach it below and you can have a look.

My regular fun Friday post is coming up next. Be ready.....
Matthew Collinge: 604homes.com - Royal LePage Westside

If you are interested in more information on the Vancouver market give Matt a call or if Victoria is where you would like to be drop us a line or an e-mail.

CheersBill

Bill Ethier B.Sc - REALTOR®

Properties in Victoria Professionals - Royal LePage Coast Capital Realty

Bill has been a REALTOR® in Victoria since 2006. Originally from the Vancouver area, Bill moved to Victoria to attend the University of Victoria where he received his Bachelor of Science. Not only does Bill have a wealth of real estate knowledge he is also an active member of the community. He is a member of Triple Shot Cycling Club, Island Road Racers and is the Race Director for the Sooke River 10K.

Victoria Real Estate: 19 Prestigious Sales of over $1 million

There were 19 sales of over $1 million that had an upward impact on the average price of single family homes in Victoria BC. This is becoming more and more common and we are showing homes over a million more and more often. The Luxury Real Estate Market is in demand.


These higher priced homes got Victoria Real Estate off to a solid start in the first month of 2008 pushing the average price to $606,449. There were 464 sales through the Victoria Real Estate Board’s Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in January, up from the 442 sales in the same month a year ago. There were 408 sales in December. Meantime, the total number of properties available for sale rose to 3,027. This is a 14 per cent increase over January of last year (2007).


The Victoria Real Estate market remains very healthy and the strong sales and increase in inventory represent good news for both sellers and buyers. There is a strong demand for homes that are realistically priced and the increase in the number of properties available for sale means more choice for buyers. It should be noted that nearly 29 per cent of single family homes sold for less than $450,000 last month while nearly 37 per cent of all condominiums sold for under $275,000 in January.


The average price of all condominiums sold in January was $349,045, and the six month average was $326,904. The median was of course again lower at $304,450. The average price of all townhomes was $423,774, with a six month average of $419,926 and a median price of $392,950. Total MLS® sales last month in the Greater Victoria Real Estate Boundary included 249 single family homes, 125 condominiums, 43 town-homes and 16 manufactured homes.
Summary Report and Graphs


Monthly Sales Summary

Average Selling Price Graphs

Active Listings, New Listings and Sales Graphs


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If you have any comments on the above please drop a note below. Further feel free to contact us any time.


CheersBill



Bill Ethier B.Sc - REALTOR®



Properties in Victoria Professionals - Royal LePage Coast Capital Realty



Bill has been a REALTOR® in Victoria since 2006. Originally from the Vancouver area, Bill moved to Victoria to attend the University of Victoria where he received his Bachelor of Science. Not only does Bill have a wealth of real estate knowledge he is also an active member of the community. He is a member of Triple Shot Cycling Club, Island Road Racers and is the Race Director for the Sooke River 10K.