Vancouver Island - Quiet Market Closes Out the Summer

Last month, there were 324 sales of single-family homes in the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board (VIREB) area, a seven percent increase from one year ago (304) and down by 21 percent from July 2023 (414). Sales of condo apartments in August came in at 85, increasing by 29 percent year over year but down 13 percent from the previous month. In the row/townhouse category, 77 units changed hands last month, up 51 percent from one year ago and down 10 percent from July.

Active listings of single-family homes were 1,072 in August, down from 1,368 one year ago. VIREB’s inventory of condo apartments was 308 last month, down from 332 listings in August 2022. There were 254 row/townhouses for sale last month compared to 280 one year ago.

“The last two weeks of August were slower than the rest of the summer, which isn’t surprising, ” says Kelly O’Dwyer, 2023 Chair. “The market is usually pretty quiet right before school starts again.”

In its Third-Quarter Housing Market Forecast, the British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that the B.C. housing market has been more resilient than expected in 2023, with both home sales and prices holding up well in the face of sharply higher interest rates. BCREA has projected the VIREB area to close out the year with 8,300 unit sales and is forecasting 8,800 unit sales in 2024.

While housing market activity across the province began the year well below normal, according to BCREA, the conditional pause by the Bank of Canada in January spurred a surprisingly strong recovery in the spring. Further, because inventory remains very low, prices rose through much of
2023 despite below-average sales.

The board-wide benchmark price (MLS® Home Price Index) of a single-family home was $770,500 in August 2023, down two percent from one year ago and up slightly from July. In the apartment category, the benchmark price was $397,900 last month, a one percent decrease from August 2022
and down slightly from July. The year-over-year benchmark price of a townhouse was $560,400 in August, nearly the same as last August and marginally lower than in July.

In Campbell River, the benchmark price of a single-family home was $673,700 last month, up around one percent from the previous year. The Comox Valley’s year-over-year benchmark price dropped by three percent to $819,400. In the Cowichan Valley, the benchmark price was $781,300, a two percent decrease from August 2022. Nanaimo’s year-over-year benchmark price dropped by two percent to $799,200, while the Parksville-Qualicum area saw its benchmark price increase by one percent to $896,200. The cost of a benchmark single-family home in Port Alberni was $528,500, down four percent from the previous year. For the North Island, the benchmark price of a single-family home decreased by six percent to $437,000.  (Information courtesy of the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board (VIREB)