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The month of July showed a dip in property sales and an increase in prices. This has been mainly due to a continued decline in housing inventory throughout the summer, which has hindered property development and sales. Allow me to go into more detail.
Housing Inventory Woes
In the month of July, we experienced a minor decline in property sales due to a dip in supply for single family homes and condominiums, which ultimately increased prices for both types of properties. Low housing inventory is to blame, and it has been the real estate story for most of the summer.
In short, continued low housing inventory is creating a type of housing gridlock, in which case the pressure to create a variety of different types of homes in the community should be increased. For the long term health of the housing market in Victoria, it is key to have and maintain a strong focus on developing new homes to meet our growing demand.
“The real estate story right now continues to be inventory,” said David Langlois, President, Victoria Real Estate Board. “The market is driven by inventory; and fewer home listings lead to fewer home sales. In that context, these numbers do not reflect a downturn in our market but reveal sales falling due to this continued trend of low inventory.”
Market Updates
Overall, the month of July 2021 had a total of 835 properties sold, which is a 14.7 per cent decrease from the total number of properties sold in July 2020, which saw a total of 979 properties sold. It also incurred a drop of 11.4 per cent from the previous month of June.
Condominiums in Victoria saw a small jump of 18.8 per cent in sales when compared to the same period last year with 284 units sold. However, there was a 16.0 per cent decline of condominiums sold in July 2021 compared to the previous month of June.
The sales of single-family houses in Victoria were down by 29.2 per cent from July 2020 with 396 units sold. 10 per cent fewer single-family homes were sold when compared to the previous month of June 2021. However, prices are still on the rise and are showing no signs of slowing down.
The Multiple Listing Service® Home Price Index benchmark value for a single-family home in the Victoria Core in July 2020 was $909,900. The benchmark value for the same home in July 2021 increased by 18.9 per cent to a cool $1,082,000, a 1.7 per cent increase from the previous month of June.
The MLS® HPI benchmark value for condominiums within the Victoria Core in July 2021 was $535,100, an increase of 8.1 per cent from last year’s price of $494,900 in June.
To learn more, check out the full market update report here!
Wrap-Up
All in all, we’re seeing a decrease in sales activity compared to the previous year. The diminishing housing inventory continues to impact housing development, increase prices, and is essentially slowing down market momentum which was witnessed in previous months.
With that being said, we have a fundamental understanding of the housing market and we’re here to make the process easier for anyone wanting to buy or sell in the Victoria area.
Give us a call now!
