Real estate sales in August reflected a typical late summer market — quiet in the first part of the month and then picking up in the final weeks, said the chairperson of the Victoria Real Estate Board.
The brisk sales pace in the later part of August may continue into September, Graden Sol said Friday when the board’s monthly data was released.
There were 544 sales through the board last month, up by 13.8 per cent from 478 in August 2022. Last month’s number of sales slid by 8.6 per cent overall from July.
The benchmark price for a single-family house in Greater Victoria’s core (Saanich, Oak Bay, Victoria, Esquimalt and View Royal) in August was $1.324 million, down slightly from $1.327 in the same month in 2022.
It rose from July’s price of $1.318 million.
Most residential properties for sale in the capital region market were single-family, which is “generally at the top price point,” Sol said.
The benchmark for a condominium in the core was $582,000 in August, marginally below the same month in 2022 when it was $583,700.
The July condo price was $578,000.
Inventory of properties for sale remains low at 2,490 listings, although it is 16.5 per cent higher than the 2,137 listing at the end of August 2022.
“The focus in our market and by all levels of government needs to be on opening up more supply,” Sol said.
Capital region inventory levels are not high enough to result in a balanced market, he said, noting that it stood at 5,000 a decade ago.
Non-single-family housing, such as townhomes and condos, “represent only 37.1 per cent of listings for sale,” Sol said.
Townhomes, which are what many families are drawn to, represent just 9.8 per cent of residential property for sale, he said.
“This imbalance in the mix of housing options means there is the potential for more price pressure on these types of properties because demand is concentrated at more attainable price points.”
The total value of all properties sold in August was $539.9 million.
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