Welcome to the new year, and the beginning of another season in the Victoria real estate market.  If you are new to this journal, welcome, and don’t forget to check back here, or “like” us on Facebook to make sure you receive your market update every Monday morning.  We’re quite into the statistics and will promise to share our unvarnished opinions with you every week.  Sometimes we will have good news, but we’re not shy to share bad news either.  The truth is that there is opportunity in every market, but there are lots of pitfalls as well.  We’ll arm you with the information that you need to help you think like an insider, with the hope that it helps you make better real estate decisions.

So far in 2012, although the sales results don’t show it yet, the market has been brisk.  We can see that there are many property hunters entering the market from our very high web traffic, and from the number of showings that we are receiving to our listings.  Our colleagues are saying the same – activity seem to be starting earlier this year than previous years.  That’s good news for buyers and sellers.

The detached house market has been relatively stable for the last four months, with just small price oscillations up and down.  If prices are up one week, it seems that they are always back down the week after.  We believe that stability is good for all parties.  Sellers can price their homes more accurately, and buyers don’t have to worry about wild price swings.  It is important for sellers to realize, however, that the average time that it takes a home to sell is growing.   Sellers should not expect a fast sale in all cases.

The condo market continues to lag behind detached homes, with prices stil sliding slowing downwards.  With interest rates so low, and many first time buyers in the market, I’m surprised that this trend is continuing.  However, we do see that the low prices of new homes in Westshore in developments like Homes at Hazelwood, Westhills, and Kettle Creek are stealing some first time buyers who would otherwise buy a condo.  If you have a condo to sell, you will need to be right on the money with your price.  Too high, and you will just sit on the market.  In a declining market, you can’t afford to do that!

Over the last 30 days, 135 single family houses were sold, down by 19 houses from last week.  The median price is down $50 to $539,900. The average house was on the market for 53 days. In the same time period, 77 condos were sold, down by 7 condos from last week.  The median price is up $8,000 to $279,000. The average condo was on the market for 63 days.

There are now 1,440 houses for sale, up by 33 from last week.  Condo inventory has risen by 16 to 819 suites.

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Last night I stopped by the Rainbow Hill construction site after the construction crew shut down for the weekend.  Town homes 1-4 are pretty well finished with just the garage doors to go on and the landscaping to be installed.  Now that the road is paved, you can get to these units with touching any muddy ground which will be a very nice thing for our grand opening planned for January 21 & 22.  

Town homes 5-9 have mostly finished interiors, but the ground around them is still dirt, so when you do visit, you don't want to bring your finest loafers.

Homes 11-13 are at a similar level of finish.  The stunning interiors are done, and we just need to get the exterior grounds in shape.

As I was standing in the show suite, Unit 3, looking at the gorgeous furniture about to be arranged, it was just starting to get dark.  I've been up here many times admiring the day time view, but this was the first time that I really was able to see how awesome the night view was as well.  It sounds cliche, but it really was like a blanket of lights below me.  Whoever is lucky enough to end up living here is going to have one of the best views in the city - no matter which unit they choose.

For now, we're still looking good for our public grand opening on January 21st @ noon!

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