It’s a new month and with it comes some additional real estate market stats! Overall, the Victoria real estate market is slower (less new listings and number of sales) compared to last spring while buyers continue to wait and watch current listings because of COVID-19. However, there are still homes selling quickly and with competing offers. The most important factors for sellers to keep in mind is pricing and patience.

There is good news! The buyers who are scheduling showings right now are serious and are likely looking to make a purchase. As a seller, it’s important that your home is welcoming and ready to be viewed by prospective buyers. There will still be people who need to buy and sell for various reasons such as job relocation, expanding family, or family issues.

Real estate was deemed an essential service by our province in March and since then we are still showing properties with your health as our top priority. We have adapted using technology as buyers can easily view properties online. Contracts of purchase and sale documents are also sent and signed securely through Docusign.

 

Below are the statistics released at months end from the Victoria Real Estate Board (VREB):

April 2020
Net unconditional sales: 287
New listings: 667
Active listings: 2,305

April 2019
Net unconditional sales: 696
New listings: 1,392
Active listings: 2,751

 

Median Sale Prices for Single Family Homes, Condos, and Townhomes

The median price is the midpoint of all selling prices when displayed in order. I find it useful because it is not as strongly influenced by very large or very small sales within the specified time period. Whereas, the average price is the total sales volume divided by number of units sold.

Single Family Homes Greater Victoria

• April 2020 median selling price: $795,000
• April 2019 median selling price: $800,000
• 0.6% decrease in median selling price since this month last year

Condo Apartment

• April 2020 median selling price: $410,000
• April 2019 median selling price: $410,000
• 0.0% change in median selling price since this month last year

Row/Townhome

• April 2020 median selling price: $578,500
• April 2019 median selling price: $569,900
• 1.5% increase in median selling price since this month last year

 

Sales to Active Listings Ratio

The total residential sales over total active residential listings ratio is a measurement of supply + demand and is expressed as a percentage at months-end. In April 2020, the sales over active listings ratio was approximately 15%. In this case, when the percentage of sales to active listings is in the 15-20% range there is little pressure on prices either way. Normally considered a balanced market.

When the sales to active listings percentage falls below 10%, there is downward pressure on prices and it is considered to be a buyers’ market. Alternatively, when the sales to active listings percentage goes above 25%, there is upward pressure on prices and it is considered a sellers’ market.

 

Real Estate Market Overall

As mentioned previously, the real estate market is slower in that there have been less new listings and lower sales volumes this April compared to last April and the previous month in March 2020.

For example, in April 2020, there was a decrease of almost 59% in sales volume compared to April 2019. In addition, there was a 52.8% decrease in properties sold compared to the previous month of March 2020. However, despite the drastic decline in sales volume, the average home price has increased just over 6% to $733,872 in April 2020 from $689,220 in April 2019.

It’s important to keep optimistic and hopeful that we will return to a new normal soon.

Thanks for reading along and I hope you have a great week ahead!

** all data and statistics are from the Victoria Real Estate Board. You can find further information here: https://www.vreb.org/current-statistics