BY CARLA WILSON, TIMES COLONIST OCTOBER 12, 2012

A year-round downtown public market is moving closer to its April 2013 opening target after a successful meeting this week between its non-profit organizer and the building's landlord.

"Things are moving forward in a really good manner," Phillipe Lucas, chairman of the Victoria Downtown Public Market Society, said this week.

If all goes smoothly, the market will open in a 18,000-square-foot space in the Hudson building, bordered by Douglas, Fisgard and Herald streets.

While seasonal downtown markets are popular, a permanent public market in the city's core has been talked about for decades in various locations but has never been established.

Supporters of the concept point to the success of the Granville Island Public Market in Vancouver and the Lonsdale Quay Market in North Vancouver.

Like those markets, the Victoria market will feature a wide range of offerings such as baked goods, fresh seafood, a green grocer and a butcher, Lucas said.

Bistro tables and counter seating will give patrons the chance to sit down for lunch or snack or they can take out meals. Local restaurateurs have expressed interest in the space, he said.

Permanent, part-time and seasonal vendors will all have a place in the market.

Lucas said he met this week in Vancouver with Townline, the building's developer, and reached agreement on square-foot costs to vendors. Anticipated hours are 9: 30 a.m. to 6: 30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and Sunday from 9: 30 a.m. to 5 p.m., he said.

Successful vendors could graduate from smaller to larger and more permanent spots in the market. The smallest permanent area would cover about 500 square feet, Lucas said.

Vendors who have expressed interest will be contacted in the next 10 days, Lucas said. The aim is to have agreements signed by Nov. 3.

Interest has come from potential vendors on Southern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, he said.

Names of possible vendors and square foot costs are not being released at this time.

The 40,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space in the Hudson is close to full. Dr. John Poon and Associates, Inner Harbour Optometry, has set up in the building, which also houses Olive the Senses, Design House Salon, Hudson Yoga, 2% Jazz Coffee Roastery, Smoken Bones Cookshack and the Royal Bank.

Businesses in the Hudson have built-in customers in the 152 condominium units in the Hudson. Town-line is also building Hudson Mews, a 120-unit, 12-storey rental tower, the first of three towers to be built next to the Hudson.

cjwilson@timescolonist.com

http://www.timescolonist.com/business/Year+round+public+market+moves+step+closer/7380072/story.html

For the last few weeks I have been reporting some pretty concerning numbers in regards to the Real Estate market here in Victoria, BC.  The volume of sales was dropping steeply and prices had started to soften as well.  It didn’t look very good for sellers as the negative news causing buyers to take a “wait and see” attitude – further exasperating the problem of soft sales.

We’ve seen these sudden slowdowns before and they generally follow one of two courses.  Either they continue and turn into a longer term soft market with low prices, or they are more short lived, with a bit of an upwards bounce in price, recovering from a bit of a downwards over-reaction.

This last week we have started to see more activity in the market, especially in our new home developments, Homes at Hazelwood and The Summit at Thetis, on the west shore.  No, we are not suddenly having our doors broken down, but there is a feeling of more activity and more buyers are writing offers.  Some buyers are even saying to us that the media is over reacting and that they feel that houses in Victoria are a bit of a good deal right now after the recent price decreases. 

I don’t have a crystal ball – although I wish I did – but the numbers for the last week paint a better story than we have been seeing and, hopefully, signal the beginning of a new trend.  Single-family home sales are up in both the number of homes sold and the selling prices.  At the same time, inventory has dropped.  Great news all round, but this is just one week worth of stats.  If this continues, we will still end up with a net reduction in home prices, but the downwards trend could be over with a bit of a positive bounce in prices.

I can’t wait to see next week’s numbers!  If you want to make sure that you don’t miss them, remember to “like” Victoria Real Estate on Facebook.

Here are the stats from the last week:

Over the last 30 days, 217 single-family houses were sold, up by 7 houses from last week.  The median price is up $12,500 to $531,000. The average house was on the market for 51 days.

In the last 30 days, 130 condos were sold, down by 4 condos from last week.  The median price is down $6,000 to $258,950. The average condo was on the market for 61 days.

There are now 2,262 houses for sale, down by 10 from last week.  Condo inventory has risen by 26 to 1055 suites.

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If I was asked to sum up the current market, “challenging,” would be the word that I would use.  Simply put, we are in a soft period and that means that it is harder to sell a home and you should expect to get less for it.  Looking specifically at detached houses in Victoria, the volume of sales this September is down by 41% from the peak this spring.  Prices are down 6.5% from just a month ago, and down almost 9% from the most recent peak in March.  The first impression from looking at these numbers will strike fear into the heart of most.  But, as I always work to point out, where there is fear there is lots of opportunity!

Even though the volume of sales is down, move than 200 houses still changed hands in September in Greater Victoria. Your goal as a seller is to make sure that your offering is good enough to be one of those homes.  That means a sharper price than you may be comfortable with combined with a clean, well presented house.  Then once you sell, with cash in hand, you become the buyer in a buyer’s market.  Seek out those sellers who take the news as literal truth, and pick up a bargain.  They are definitely deals out there to be had! 

There is a strong argument to be made that it is better to buy and sell in a troubled market than in a strong market.  I don’t just preach these words, I live by them as well.  I just sold my home this weekend for less (much less!) than I wanted to accept.  But, on the other side of the equation, I saved far more on my purchase than I lost on the sale of my house.  At the end of the day, I moved ahead on my personal balance sheet.  If you buy and sell well, you can do the same in every challenging market.

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