Low inventory, heavy snowfall put damper on real estate sales

Historically low inventory levels and surprising levels of snow may be behind a relatively quiet February in Greater Victoria’s real estate market.

The Victoria Real Estate Board said 675 properties changed hands in the region last month, a 12.6 per cent drop from the 772 sold over the same month last year, but an improvement over the 478 sold in January.

The drop in sales should not have been a surprise, according to Ara Balabanian, president of the VREB, as there were only 1,537 active listings in February, a 40 per cent drop from February 2016.

But he was quick to put a positive spin on the sales that were recorded. “In spite of the low inventory, the real estate market in Victoria is robust. The 10-year average for sales in February is 542, so we are well within expected numbers for this time of the year,” he said. “In fact, this February’s sales are the second highest in the past 10 years.”

Balabanian said the snow may have slowed action in the region last month.

“Our market may have been restrained over the course of the month due to something that is completely normal in many Canadian markets. The snowfall in the Victoria area certainly cancelled many open houses and may have put a damper on sales,” he said.

But what sales there were featured higher selling prices.

According to the board, the average sale price of a singlefamily home in the region was $852,111 last month, a 27.4 per cent increase over February 2016 and a 5.9 per cent increase over January.

The benchmark value for a single-family home in the region was up 19.6 per cent to $642,300 compared with February 2016, while in the Victoria core it jumped 21.3 per cent year-overyear to $775,000.

The benchmark price is used by the board as it is seen as a more accurate reflection of the market than an average or median sale price because it tracks price levels for a typical home in a given community.

“The low number of homes for sale in our marketplace can put pressure on pricing,” said Balabanian. “The good news is we have seen an increase in new listings this month over January.”

There were 880 new listings added in February, up from the 753 added in January.

“This time last year, there were 1,160 new listings, so we’ll be watching the numbers in March closely to see if more sellers decide to get into the market as spring arrives,” he added.