Home sales surge in mid and North Island

Home sales north of the Malahat Drive nearly doubled in September compared withlast year according to figures released by the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board.

There were 1,287 sales last month compared to 692 in September 2019.

“The strength of our housing market has surprised us somewhat,” said VIREB president Kevin Reid. “We frankly did not expect it to recover so quickly from the COVID-19 effect.”

Last month there were 643 single-family homes sold in September compared to 324 the previous year. Sales of condo apartments rose by 46 per cent year over year while row/townhouse sales increased by 28 per cent.

Reid attributes the recovery to pent-up demand, low mortgage rates, and persistent supply shortages.

“Our market is quite fluid right now, which makes it difficult to determine trends, but we have noticed that some buyers are advancing their retirement plans due to the pandemic,” he said. “Economic uncertainty is motivating other consumers to downsize and reduce their debt load.”

Although Reid expects the market to slow down in the coming months, he remains optimistic. However, he cautions sellers not to be unrealistic when it comes to pricing their homes.

“Correctly pricing your home is the key to a quick sale and may even result in multiple offers. Overpriced properties tend to linger whether we are in a buyers’ or sellers’ market,” he said.

The benchmark price of a single-family home hit $527,300 in September in all regions on the Island excluding Greater Victoria, a marginal increase from the previous year and one per cent lower than in August. The year-over-year benchmark price of an apartment rose by three per cent, hitting $309,400 but down slightly from the previous month. The benchmark price of a townhouse rose by six per cent year over year, climbing to $434,300 and up slightly from August.