In times of uncertainty, Vancouver Island’s real estate market serves stability

A real estate investment will always benefit you in the long run, but the hardest part of the real estate game is timing: understanding when to sell and when to buy as markets fluctuate with the economy. In the BC real estate market, Vancouver Island makes that a little easier.

While the Lower Mainland market has largely reacted to the Bank of Canada’s numerous (and ongoing) interest rate hikes this year, Vancouver Island has remained relatively stable — a few bumps rather than a rollercoaster.

“Sales have increased month over month and prices remain relatively stable, with just a slight decrease compared to the same period last month,” says Christine RyanVancouver Island based Sales Manager at Sotheby’s International Realty Canada. “This would indicate that the rate hike contributed to small price adjustments, but had no effect on buyer buying activity.”

Meanwhile, in Metro Vancouver, home sales rose about 12.8% from September to October, according to the latest statistics by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV), but were actually down 45.5% from October 2021 and 33.3% from the 10-year October average.

Ryan says that after a relatively calm summer and early fall, the current sales activity in the Vancouver Island real estate market indicates that prices more or less reflect market conditions and that “the buyers react favourably”.

“Sales were up 17% overall from the previous month in Greater Victoria, with a 3% increase elsewhere on the island,” Ryan says — and that’s often the case on the island at this time of year. the year.

LILY: Amid uncertainty, Vancouver Island market remains a beacon of stability

A quantitative way to identify the trend of a real estate market is to look at the sales-to-active listings (SAR) ratio, dividing the number of sales by the total number of active listings. A ratio below 12% is generally defined as a buyers’ market, a ratio above 20% generally indicates a lean towards sellers, and anything in between shows a balance in the market. According to Vancouver Island Real Estate BoardAccording to the statistics for the month of October, 249 sales were recorded and the number of active listings reached 1,360, which gives us a ratio of 18.3% which indicates a good balance.

“We usually have a relatively healthy fall market on the island. Our temperate climate attracts snowbirds who tend to travel west and shop in the fall. I suspect the desire to move into a new home for Christmas and New Years is a driver of this seasonal increase in market activity. Clearly, motivated sellers and motivated buyers come together to strike a deal with the advice of their respective real estate agents.

As Ryan has previously said, Vancouver Island is blessed with one of the most stable real estate markets in Canada, and this stability becomes even more attractive when surrounding markets are in a constant state of flux and uncertainty. Extreme highs can be fun, but that can often mean extreme lows are also possible.

Sometimes there is nothing better than stability and reliability.

This article was produced in partnership with STOREYS Custom Studio.