The sale of single-family homes in Greater Victoria hit a seven-year high for the month of February as 285 of those properties were sold. That’s the most for the second month of the year since 2008, when 295 single-family homes sold just before the start of the recession.
Overall, the Victoria Real Estate Board said 542 properties sold in the region during February, up from 412 properties sold in the same month last year and the 351 properties sold in January.
“The trees bloomed early in Victoria, and so did local real estate,” said board president Guy Crozier. “February was a busy month, with numbers closer to what we would expect to see in the spring.
“The board certainly anticipated an increase in sales for spring, but the increase we’ve seen exceeded my expectations,” Crozier added. “The early spring combined with available low interest rates will likely create more demand for Victoria real estate as the rest of Canada digs out from winter.”
Crozier said although buyers are in a spring buying mode, the amount of available inventory may not be quite up to the pace.
There were 3,480 active listings on the Multiple Listing Service at the end of February, eight per cent fewer than the 3,770 active listings in February 2014.
The Home Price Index benchmark value for a single family home in the Victoria core was $557,000, up 1.3 per cent from $549,700 in February a year ago.
The benchmark on the West Shore was $406,900, about the same as 2014. On the Peninsula, the benchmark was $522,500, up 3.6 per cent from a year ago.
Condominium prices in the region increased 4.4 per cent over last year to $289,200 while townhouses increased slightly to $400,900.
