Where is the Victoria Market Going

With every media outlet indicating different directions about the future of the market, we wanted to see how you feel about the future of the local market and how changes elsewhere impact upon us.

Our read of the future market is simple, as long as there is more demand than supply prices will continue to go up and as such, we predict a slow down in the price increases over the coming years.

Everybody that leaves their house and drives the streets of the Greater Victoria Area, will have noticed all the building going on, the concern we have that most of the current constructions seem to be focused on one type of building. Most of the condo's build are the mid to high price luxury buildings. With prices starting in the mid to high $ 300,000 for Condo's and as far as town-homes the starting prices is in the mid to high $ 400,000.

that takes most if not all first time buyers out of the new construction marketplace and off course with the influx of this large number of similar type properties entering the market more or less all at the same time, and many more in the works, we feel that we have seen the end of the fast spiking price increases, at least in the condo market.

The Single family home market is a little different, as they are not building single family homes as fast as they are being sold, yet, so we think that there is still a fair bit of price increases on the horizon. But again with the starting prices, well into the $ 500,000's the new home construction market has not seen a first time buyer for years by now.

The commercial section of the local real estate market is much more complex, and I will write a separate post for it later this week.

So what do we conclude from all this;

New construction condo market is and or will soon enter a period of time with more supply than demand and prices will soften. Re-sale homes are a much better value at this time, and are often in better locations anyways (except for the really special ones, read expensive ones).

New construction Single family homes are getting easier to find and buy over the next year or two, but prices will hold and increase at single digit increases.
Again the resale homes are a much better buy in most cases, dependent on where you want to be and what type of home you are considering.

Example, one just can not buy a 3,000 sqft 1990's home with an in-law suite in Oak Bay, and if you can it is so rare that the whole world will jump all over it. where that type of home is the norm in the western communities.

but this is just our small take on the future of our market, we are cautiously optimistic.