Vancouver, BC – December 14, 2011. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) residential unit sales in the province remained relatively unchanged in November compared to the same month last year. A total of 5,640 units were sold last month compared to 5,647 units in November 2010. The average MLS® residential price was up 1.1 per cent to $529,140 in November compared to the same month last year.

“BC home sales continued to gain ground in November,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “After waning during the first half of the year, consumer demand has steadily increased since the summer months, bringing home sales within seven units of the November 2010 level.”

“Low mortgage interest rates remain a key driver in the housing market, helping to maintain affordability and purchasing power,” added Muir.

Year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume increased 15.5 per cent to $41 billion, compared to the same period last year. Residential unit sales increased 3.2 per cent to 72,632 units, while the average MLS® residential price rose 11.9 per cent to $563,991 over the same period.

Victoria Highlights

• The Victoria CMA apartment vacancy rate increased to 2.1 per cent in October 2011, from 1.5 per cent in October 2010
• The average same sample one-bedroom rent increased 1.6 per cent inOctober 2011, relative to October 2010
• Increased rental demand will more than offset increased competition from the secondary rental market in 2012, leading to lower vacancy rates.

Victoria is now available and can be accessed by clicking on the link below.

The 2011 edition of CMHC’s Rental Market Report

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Click image to download full Statistics

Click image to download full Statistics

Real estate sales activity remained steady throughout Greater Victoria last month with a total of 482 homes and other properties selling through the Victoria Real Estate Board’s Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®), virtually unchanged from 483 sales in October.  There were 479 sales in November of last year.  Overall prices, meantime, remained mixed, depending on price measure and property type.

Victoria Real Estate Board President, Dennis Fimrite, said the continued stability in sales is indicative of a balanced and healthy market, “We were pleased to see that sales last month were higher than in November of last year and showed little change from October.  Looking forward, we anticipate continued stability as we move into 2012.”  Fimrite noted that there was some variability in prices last month, depending on property type, “It’s important to look at price changes over several months to determine what trends are developing as there will always be month-to-month fluctuations in prices depending on what properties sell in a given month.”  He added that that there were 11 single family home sales of over $1 million in November including one for over $6 million in Oak Bay.

Fimrite added that the number of properties available for sale eased last month to 4,329 compared to 4,687 at the end of October.  “Inventory levels remained 16 per cent higher than a year ago but have fallen back from a peak of over 5,000 seen earlier this year.”

The average price for single-family homes sold in Greater Victoria last month was $592,034, down slightly from $595,836 in October.  The median price also declined to $530,000 while the six-month average declined to $613,259. The overall average price for condominiums last month was $320,558, up from $307,329 in October.  The median price for condominiums in November also increased to $296,000 while the average for the last six months declined slightly to $321,941.  The average price of all townhomes sold last month was $380,675 compared to $428,040 in October. The median price declined to $360,000 while the six month average declined to $425,095.

MLS® sales last month included 293 single family homes, 104 condominiums, 48 townhomes and 10 manufactured homes.