49 replies to this topic

[aastra]

Greater Vancouver is such an enormous area and the differences between the various municipalities can be so stark, I think an "average price" has little meaning.

[Holden West]

^True. I might have been thinking of the fancier areas of Vancouver, Shaugnessy etc. being $500,000 and Oak Bay being $250,000 back in the day. Not an equal comparison.

[renthefinn]

Victoria was catching up to Vancouver, but it's not growing as fast as Van did in the last 6 months. Before that Vic was growing much faster, hence the catching.

[Holden West]

VICTORIA HOUSING MARKET STEAMING ALONG

Apr 2, 2007

NEW FIGURES RELEASED BY THE VICTORIA REAL ESTATE BOARD SHOW THE NUMBER OF CAPITAL REGION SALES IN MARCH WAS UP 18-PERCENT OVER FEBRUARY.

MARCH OF THIS YEAR SAW VIRTUALLY NO CHANGE OVER MARCH OF 2006 IN TERMS OF THE NUMBER OF SALES: 833 THIS YEAR, JUST 10 FEWER THAN MARCH LAST YEAR.

THE NUMBER OF PROPERTIES ON THE MARKET WAS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER THIS MARCH OVER LAST AT 3,079 -- THAT'S A 19-PERCENT INCREASE.

THE AVERAGE SALE PRICE LAST MONTH IN GREATER VICTORIA WAS $542-THOUSAND.

THAT NUMBER IS SKEWED SOMEWHAT BY THE INCLUSION OF A DOZEN HOMES WORTH MORE THAN A MILLION DOLLARS.

THE MEDIAN DOLLAR VALUE FOR MARCH WAS JUST UNDER $490-THOUSAND.

- IRELAND

[Holden West]

No bubble...or is it just getting bigger?

Victoria building boom will continue: Statistics Canada

Victoria Times Colonist

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Get used to the concrete trucks, construction cranes and the snap of nailguns. Greater Victoria's building boom is showing no signs of a slowdown.

In fact, the clip of construction is revving up from an already rapid pace.

For the first five months of this year, the value of the region's building permits -- a leading indicator for construction activity -- shot up 62 per cent over the same period a year ago.

Statistics Canada reported yesterday the value of permits issued from January to May increased to $464.9 million from $287.7 million over the first five months of 2006.

That total represents housing, commercial and institutional buildings going up throughout the region, including highrises in the Humboldt Valley, massive condo projects on the Upper Harbour, Songhees and West Shore,
housing projects on Bear Mountain and multi-million-dollar education buildings at the University of Victoria and hospital buildings.

The five-month increase was the third highest in Canada, behind only Sudbury, Ont., at 150 per cent, and St. John, N.B., at 67 per cent. Both cities, however, posted a quarter of Victoria's overall value.

Greater Victoria building permits increased 15 per cent to $93.3 million in May over April's $81 million, and helping contribute to a searing pace in Western Canada.

[url=http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=d64cd7d1-a60d-43eb-aa61-962a6b8f45a9&k=83945:6c117]More here...[/url:6c117]

[Mike K.]

Average house prices hit half-million dollar mark

By Rudy Haugeneder
News staff
Jul 06 2007

Home sales in the Greater Victoria last month surged to the highest June level in last 15 years.

And it showed in the price of homes.

The average price of single family homes sold in June hit a new record high of $573,415 with a median price of $501,500.

Metchosin topped the price list on the West Shore with the average single family home costing $663,238 for the eight homes sold, followed by View Royal at $566,759 and 19 houses, Colwood at $478,090 with 21 homes and Langford’s 59 houses sold going for an average of $473,337.

There were 949 sales in through the Victoria Real Estate Board’s Multiple Listing Service in June, up nearly 25 per cent from the 762 sales in the same month a year ago.

The number of privately sold homes was not included.

Bev McIvor, board president, said 23 houses sold for over $1 million.

“This is the first time that the median price for single family homes has topped $500,000,” she said. “It’s important to note that nearly a third of single family homes last month sold for under $425,000”

Consumer confidence in the housing market remains strong, she said.

“Total sales so far this year are running nearly eight percent higher than in the first six months of last year,” said McIvor.

The average price for all condominiums sold in June was $348,089 – up from the six month average of $316,226. The condo median price was $275,500.

The cheapest condo sold anywhere was in View Royal, going for an almost unheard of giveaway price of $66,000. The statistics did not say why it was so cheap. It was the only condo sold in that community during June.

Seventeen condos sold in Langford for an average price of $269,521 followed by Colwood with eight sales averaging $262,163.

Langford had the most townhouse sales, 22 condos selling for an average $347,750, followed by View Royal’s seven sales averaging $352,205 and Colwood at sales worth an average of $377,658.

The average price for townhomes in Greater Victoria last month was $406,606.

The real estate board says last month’s sales included 530 single family homes, 241 condominiums, 99 townhomes and 22 manufactured homes.

There were 3,550 properties listed for sale, up 13 per cent from the 3,147 properties in the same month a year ago.

reporter@goldstreamgazette.com

[Holden West]

Another quote from the June 1979 Hansard. Again, the topic is the proposed Wharf St. Convention Centre. Keep in mind the current drastic shortage in skilled tradespeople we are experiencing today. How times have changed.

Transportation and parking and how it would vitalize the small business community should be considered. I would like to read for you some of the short-term employment possibilities that may help rectify our very, very bad employment situation for the construction industry. One-quarter of all plumbers in Victoria are unemployed, as are one-third of all bricklayers, one-third of the glaziers, one-third of cement masons, 25 percent of labourers, 50 percent of plasterers and 40 percent of carpenters. In Victoria, 400 of 1, 000 organized carpenters are unemployed. On a short-term basis construction of the Victoria trade and convention centre would be a stimulus to the employment in the construction industry which, we agree, is very, very necessary.

[Caramia]

Oh wow, yeah I remember that but it is hard to imagine now, isn't it?

[Holden West]

A great feature article in the Globe on the real estate bust in BC, mostly the Okanagan but Bear Mountain and Cliffs Over Maple Bay get a brief mention, too. Great photos, as well.

By the summer of 2009, dozens of retirement and recreational projects involving tens of thousands of homes resided in some stage of panic, resignation or abandonment. The media poster child for the phenomenon was Len Barrie’s Bear Mountain Resort near Victoria. Yet that project, well on its way to a build-out value estimated at $2.5 to $3.2 billion, was in much better health than many of its imitators.

The current down cycle might persist for a while, as down cycles in B.C. often do. One contributing factor is what Jamie Maw calls “the WestJet Effect.” Cheap flights from Calgary and Edmonton to Castlegar, Comox and Kelowna helped launch the boom, but now the airline also flies to places like Phoenix, where the market is so dismal that B.C. properties are undercut by 50% or more.

[LJ]

That was a great article. Think I will drop the TC and subscribe to the G&M.