MARCH HOUSING MARKET CALMER THAN EXPECTED

Last month, the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board (VIREB) recorded 655 unit sales board-wide (all property types). In the single-family category (excluding acreage and waterfront), 291 homes sold in March, down 22 per cent from one year ago and up 15 per cent from February 2024. Sales of condo apartments last month came in at 84, increasing by 27 per cent year over year and 24 per cent from February 2024. In the row/townhouse category, 82 units changed hands in March, an increase of nine per cent from one year ago and up 39 per cent from February.

The number of active listings of single-family homes was 1,084 last month, down from 963 the previous year. VIREB’s inventory of condo apartments was 324 in March 2024, up from 290 one year ago. There were 333 row/townhouses for sale last month compared to 253 the previous year.

“As we reported last month, there is a lot of interest among potential buyers,” says Jason Yochim, VIREB Chief Executive Officer. “REALTORS® are definitely busy, although the statistics don’t reflect that. We expect it will be June before the numbers catch up with pent-up demand.”

Yochim adds that a contingent of buyers is waiting to see what the Bank of Canada will do with interest rates. In the meantime, a local REALTOR® can help advise you on the right time to buy or sell a home.

“The VIREB area is geographically widespread, so market conditions in Nanaimo won’t be the same as in Port Alberni,” adds Yochim. “However, properties priced appropriately for their location attract the most interest and sell more quickly than overpriced homes. That’s why the knowledge a local REALTOR® brings to the table is invaluable.”

The board-wide benchmark price (MLS® Home Price Index) of a single-family home was $765,600 in March 2024, up five percent from one year ago and a two percent increase from February. In the apartment category, the benchmark price was $395,000 last month, up two percent from the previous March and two percent from February. The benchmark price of a townhouse in March was $545,200, up one percent from one year ago and a marginal month-over-month decrease.

In Campbell River, the benchmark price of a single-family home was $677,500 last month, up eight percent from the previous year. The Comox Valley’s year-over-year benchmark price rose by 10 percent to $856,300. In the Cowichan Valley, the benchmark price was $753,200, a three percent increase from March 2023. Nanaimo’s year-over-year benchmark price rose by six percent to reach
$794,900, while the Parksville-Qualicum area saw its benchmark price increase by two percent to $867,300. The cost of a benchmark single-family home in Port Alberni was $528,800, up four percent from the previous year. For the North Island, the benchmark price of a single-family home rose by four percent to $407,100.

(Article provided courtesy of the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board)