New figures and comments from the leadership of Victoria Real Estate Board (VREB) suggests Victoria is slowly but steadily shedding the status of a sellerB次元官网网址檚 market.
According VREB, local realtors sold 594 properties in the region B次元官网网址� almost 20 per cent less than the 736 properties sold in August of last year and almost nine per cent than in July 2018. Condominium sales dropped 5.3 per cent from last year in August with 195 units sold, while sales of single family homes dropped 22.1 per cent from 2017 with 304 sold this August.
B次元官网网址淧rices in our market are quite flat right now, with a slow, long-term trend toward a more balanced market,B次元官网网址� said Victoria Real Estate Board president Kyle Kerr, who linked this development to various regulatory measures passed in the last few months.
B次元官网网址淢any demand-side measures were introduced this year B次元官网网址� including a stress test on mortgages B次元官网网址� which altered many buyersB次元官网网址� purchasing power,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭hese new policies are having the desired effect of slowing the market, though it is likely that over time the market will normalize these changed conditions.B次元官网网址�
This said, he suggests numbers might pick up again in the fall.
B次元官网网址淥ur strong local economy and high employment rates may bolster demand into the fall as people return to work after their summer vacations,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淔all numbers will be an interesting indicator of our year to come as we continue to track low home inventory in a changing marketplace.B次元官网网址�
Leo Spalteholz, a local realtor, who runs , a blog about the local real estate market, argues that the August numbers point to the existence of two markets: one for single-family homes, and one for condominiums.
Single family sales continued to slow down as expected in August, while condo sales actually increased a bit from July and are at almost the same level as last year, he said. B次元官网网址淭his is relatively unusual, having only happened once in the last 10 years (in 2014).B次元官网网址�
While single family sales are B次元官网网址渓anguishing,B次元官网网址� condo sales in August remain strong. B次元官网网址淭he same picture is in play when looking at months of inventory, where single family properties are at double that of condos,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭he bump in condo sales meant an interruption in the cooling trend in the overall market on a seasonally adjusted basis.B次元官网网址�
Condominium sales, in short, are propping up what would otherwise be a weak market.
SpalteholzB次元官网网址檚 reading of the condominium market also offers insights into the effects of recent regulatory changes. Strong condominium sales in August reflect a B次元官网网址渟carcityB次元官网网址� of condo listings. B次元官网网址淚 would have thought that the looming [speculation tax] and AirBnB regulations would have brought a lot of investment condos out of the woodwork, but so far that is not the case at all. Historically speaking, we still have very few properties on the market.B次元官网网址�
In short, Spalteholz challenges the VREBB次元官网网址檚 argument that home speculation tax has contributed to the current slowdown.
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