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Victoria's housing market, home prices and values


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#1961 Mike K.

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Posted 27 October 2017 - 07:57 AM

Keep in mind census is a tad old....supply is slowly catching up.

 

But the population keeps growing.

 

We've had an unprecedented supply of condominiums and apartments come onto the market between 2011 and 2016. Consider that over that time we saw the completion of:

- Era

- Sovereign

- 200 Douglas

- Promontory

- Several phases of the Railyards

- Hudson Walk One

- Hudson Mews

- The Chambers

- Mondrian

- 834

- Escher

- Union

- Janion

- Wilson's Walk

- ...and many others, and that's just within the downtown/immediate urban core of Victoria.


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#1962 Mike K.

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Posted 27 October 2017 - 07:59 AM

It isn't 1:1 either because more than 1 person lives in a house. Having said that, home occupancy ratios have been dropping in Victoria in recent years. Maybe a solution is to mandate that you cannot live in a unit by yourself! I am sure that the lefties who advocate car sharing and job sharing will be all over that!

 

Yes, that ratio has been falling, which puts further pressure on existing housing stock.

 

Stats Can also identifies a drop in the number of rooms from over 6 in a home a decade back to less than 6 now.


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#1963 tjv

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Posted 27 October 2017 - 09:06 AM

One of the reason, but I don't think it is the sole reason. How do you explain the much bigger (percentage wise) run up from 2002 to 2007?

General lowering of interest rates.  Its amazing what happens when interest rates are a fraction of what they used to be and people can afford more and more.  Only problem is we have had 15 or so years or low interest rates and people have now got in their heads that this is normal.  What happens when mortgage rates go back up to 7-8%

 

How to you explain the real estate increase over the last 18 or so months?  I will admit I never saw it coming 2 years ago, not by a long shot



#1964 dasmo

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Posted 28 October 2017 - 08:31 AM

Yep. I bought my first house in 2003. From when I started looking to when I bought interest rates went from 6.5% to 4.5%. I went from paying 1200 in rent for a townhouse to paying 1150 for a full house that was mine. The reasons for that run up were obvious....
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#1965 Nparker

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Posted 28 October 2017 - 08:42 AM

...I went from paying 1200 in rent for a townhouse to paying 1150 for a full house that was mine....

I've often remarked that I couldn't afford to rent the 2 bedroom condo that I own. My mortgage payment (which should be gone in 5 years), strata fees and property taxes are quite a bit lower than the current market rate for rentals the size of my place in downtown Victoria.


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#1966 Nparker

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Posted 29 October 2017 - 08:48 AM

I was unable to find even one point of agreement in this letter, but the following almost made me spit out my morning coffee:

...It is also relevant to consider the large number of developers from Vancouver and as far away as Ontario who are operating in Greater Victoria. This phenomenon can be largely attributed to the ease with which their proposals will be approved by council.

http://www.timescolo...oods-1.23077658

:confused:


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#1967 Nparker

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Posted 29 October 2017 - 08:55 AM

And another bit of nonsense:

...The condominium and luxury rental developments in downtown Victoria have turned public space into private space, and I’m not happy about it. As a frequent cyclist and pedestrian, I can think of at least four shortcuts I used to be able to take through downtown Victoria parking lots...

http://www.timescolo...oria-1.23077669

When were most downtown parking lots public property? And boo-effin-hoo if you now have to travel around them. Read the rest of the letter at your own risk, but you may not want to do so on a full stomach.



#1968 jonny

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Posted 30 October 2017 - 07:48 PM

Gentrification is a beautiful thing.
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#1969 jonny

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Posted 31 October 2017 - 09:51 AM

So why are so many 50+ year olds who don't live downtown so opposed to development downtown? Why do so many Victorians have this view that downtown should essentially be an outdoor shopping mall available for their convenience and weekend enjoyment? Why is downtown not viewed as a community or neighbourhood? Where does this [bizarre, frankly] viewpoint that condominiums and apartments are for the ultra rich come from when millennials such as myself are much more likely to enter the housing market by purchasing a condo than baby boomers or gen-xers? 

 

We like to cast ourselves as a pretty progressive town, but some of the more vocal local viewpoints we hear around development and that long four letter word "gentrification" are downright archaic and either straight out of the 1950's or plain urban myths. 

 

Is this just "change is hard" or is something more complex going on?


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#1970 spanky123

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Posted 31 October 2017 - 09:56 AM

^Because a lot of the 50 year olds work downtown and have to deal with the loss of parking and general decay of the core. Building luxury condos to attract foreign buyers and baby boomers who live here for a few weeks or months a year isn't gentrification. Building 'affordable' housing that is 8% below 'market value' and winds up being rented out on Airbnb anyways isn't trying to attract the working class. 



#1971 jonny

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Posted 31 October 2017 - 10:45 AM

Decay of the core? Decay of the core?!?

 

I don't know what city you are living in, but the redevelopment and gentrification of downtown has resulted in the exact opposite of decay. We have more stores. More restaurants. More bars. More pubs. More coffee shops. We have more offices and more office workers than ever before. We have more than 10 fitness gyms downtown now. 10 years ago we had 1. 

 

This whole luxury condo obsession is ridiculous. Why should you or I care how luxurious somebody's condo is? The whole angle around foreign buyers has been proven to be bunk time and time again. People who bring these arguments up are frankly not paying attention. 


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#1972 spanky123

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Posted 31 October 2017 - 11:11 AM

Decay of the core? Decay of the core?!?

 

I don't know what city you are living in, but the redevelopment and gentrification of downtown has resulted in the exact opposite of decay. We have more stores. More restaurants. More bars. More pubs. More coffee shops. We have more offices and more office workers than ever before. We have more than 10 fitness gyms downtown now. 10 years ago we had 1. 

 

This whole luxury condo obsession is ridiculous. Why should you or I care how luxurious somebody's condo is? The whole angle around foreign buyers has been proven to be bunk time and time again. People who bring these arguments up are frankly not paying attention. 

 

I was referring to the social decay and not the physical decay of buildings.

 

According to Colliers, office vacancy rates have increased year over year in Victoria. I don't know about throngs of extra workers but the folks that I know are telling me that wages continue to be flat except for some specialist roles. 

 

No doubt there are lots of people eating and drinking downtown these days, personal debt levels are at record highs! 



#1973 Danma

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Posted 31 October 2017 - 11:14 AM

And another bit of nonsense:

When were most downtown parking lots public property? And boo-effin-hoo if you now have to travel around them. Read the rest of the letter at your own risk, but you may not want to do so on a full stomach.

 

Oh boy, where to start.

 

First, yes, there is less parking inventory downtown. Clearly this author believes it is a bad thing. I would like to see another parkade somewhere myself, but these lots have always been private and were always just buildings waiting to be built***

Second, the housing and rental prices are already at those 'exorbitant' prices, otherwise these buildings wouldn't exist. Would it be nice if new buildings were more affordable? Unfortunately, the market rates stand because this is how capitalism works. These buildings are symptoms of the core issue – rent would be high whether or not they were built. Without them, rent in the area might be even higher because of less supply...

Finally, concerns about navigation through downtown by having to (god forbid) walk to the corner instead of cutting through is just silly.

 

I understand where her frustration is coming from, but the complaints are somewhat misguided IMHO.


*** This is a common complaint about trees getting cut down in Langford. People need to understand that the death sentence for those forested areas was signed ages ago when that land was sold to private interests. Whaddaya expect is gonna happen? A nature preserve? I don't like seeing trees cut down, but those landowners have just been waiting for decades to choose the right moment to develop that land.


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#1974 jonny

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Posted 31 October 2017 - 11:20 AM

I was referring to the social decay and not the physical decay of buildings.

 

Wrong thread. The question was about development. 

 

If anything, gentrification will help the social side of things. 


Edited by jonny, 31 October 2017 - 11:23 AM.


#1975 aastra

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Posted 31 October 2017 - 01:59 PM

 

I can think of at least four shortcuts I used to be able to take through downtown Victoria parking lots that are now blocked by fences, and soon to be blocked permanently by expensive developments...

 

Nobody ever complained when buildings were torn down to create the parking lots, but people complain whenever the parking lots are re-replaced with buildings. I've noted it so many times... Victorians have no aversion whatsoever to change, as long as it's the right kind of change. Positive/additive change is bad, whereas negative/subtractive change is good. Demolishing a building to create a void = good change. Filling in the void = bad change.

 

After the Standard Furniture fire there was a convenient void in the middle of that block for a brief time. Remember that? Should we be upset because we can't ride our bikes through there anymore? For decades before the fire you never could ride your bikes through there. Buildings were in the way.

 

Nobody ever used the parking lot beside the Capitol theatre as a shortcut back in the day because there was no parking lot beside the Capitol theatre back in the day. There were buildings there.

 

Nobody ever used the Pandora parking lot as a shortcut back in the day because there was no Pandora parking lot back in the day. There were buildings there.

 

How about James Bay? The most celebrated parking lots in James Bay all had houses and buildings or at least something on them before they were turned into parking lots. I mean, come on.

 

These parking lots and other voids that we celebrate are not historic/heritage voids. Almost all of them are very recent, and in no way shape or form are such voids integral to Victoria's character. In most cases they significantly detract from Victoria's character.

 

If your favourite shortcut gets eliminated then just tell yourself that you had a good run while it lasted.


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#1976 aastra

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Posted 31 October 2017 - 02:07 PM

 

Nobody ever used the Pandora parking lot as a shortcut back in the day because there was no Pandora parking lot back in the day. There were buildings there.

 

Correction to my own post: there were buildings in the middle of the block but there was an empty lot/parking lot on the east end (where the little office building is now).

 


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#1977 nerka

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Posted 31 October 2017 - 02:13 PM

The idea that new development is bad because it blocks some shortcuts (across private land) is hands down the stupidest anti-development reason I have ever seen articulated.


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#1978 aastra

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Posted 31 October 2017 - 02:29 PM

Re: Mason Street, I suppose the best outcome for everyone would have been the demolition of the old school building and nothing but a permanent empty lot in its place. What a sweet shortcut that would be. Lots of sunlight.


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#1979 Nparker

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Posted 31 October 2017 - 02:32 PM

Re: Mason Street, I suppose the best outcome for everyone would have been the demolition of the old school building and nothing but a permanent empty lot in its place. What a sweet shortcut that would be. Lots of sunlight.

That's more or less exactly what many of the people against the development wanted. Oi vey.


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#1980 tjv

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Posted 31 October 2017 - 05:58 PM

^well they should have pooled their money and bought the land, that is how the free market works lol


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