As we move further into the prime spring market, we can still see that the volume of sales is down by 25% with pricing down about 7% from the same point last year.  Having said that, the selling prices of single family homes have shown gains for the fifth week in a row, after their lowest point at the beginning of September. The number of homes sold has also grown for the sixth week in a row.

One of the most interesting stats to come out of the recent sales is that the days on market for homes that are selling has quickly dropped from over 80 days, to only 29 days.  29 days is fast in any market!  Looking at individual sales, we can see that newly listed homes are selling, while older listings are just sitting around.  Many of the newest listings are well priced for the market, buyers are realizing this, and snapping them up.  This is a clear message to sellers to ensure that your property is well priced if you want to find a buyer.

Here are the raw stats from the last 30 days:

Over the last 30 days, 176 single family houses were sold, up by 13 houses from last week.  The median price is up $13,750 to $513,750. The average house was on the market for 29 days. In the same time period, 112 condos were sold, up by 7 condos from last week.  The median price is up $6,100 to $256,000. The average condo was on the market for 68 days.

There are now 1,827 houses for sale, up by 55 from last week.  Condo inventory has risen by 14 to 911 suites.

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We are pleased to report that two of our team members, Karl Leong and Mark Roozendaal, each earned a spot in the RE/MAX Western Canada top 100 for 2012.  Only four individual RE/MAX agents from Victoria made the annual top 100 list so we are pleased to have half of those spots on our team!

We also recently found out that The Preferred Homes Team was the #1 team overall for 2012 at RE/MAX Camosun. It's been a good year and we are very pleased that we have been able to achieve so much.  To our clients, thank you so much for your trust!

If you haven't worked with The Preferred Homes Team yet, we hope that we can count you as a client in 2013.

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First time home buyers that purchase a newly built home by March 31, 2013 can qualify for a tax refund of $10,000.  This is a great incentive, expiring soon, that first timers should not miss!

One of the main qualifications is that the home must be new, and must be complete and ready to move into by the end of March.

At Homes at Hazelwood we have nine homes that will be ready in time.  All are gorgeous 3 bedroom plans, with a garage and a yard.  Visit our hot sheet at HomesAtHazelwood.ca to select your new home.

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We are pleased to announce that we have just released new lots at our award winning development of single family homes near Thetis Lake.  These are our best lots yet with quiet cul-de-sac streets, surrounded by parks, and some lots even with ocean views.  

Click here to view our new lots and then come and visit our show homes, every Saturday and Sunday from 1-4pm.

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So far, it has been a very slow start to the spring market compared to previous years.  Howver, Buyers were not complaining too much as some of the sellers were getting pretty anxious and accepting offers that seemed to be on the low side of what we were used to.  Other buyers were holding off, feeling that prices were still going to drop further.  After looking at the numbers for the last week, those buyers who are sitting on the side lines may want to re-evaluate their position.

Each year, the real estate market generally picks up steam in Victoria in mid-January.  There was some serious nail biting this year when the expected increase in volume didn't happen on schedule.  This week, it was "feeling" like the market was accelerating, and now we have the first set of numbers to back that up.  155 single family homes sold in the last 30 days, well up from the 91 that sold in the 30 day period ending in mid-January.  These are much healthier numbers and are on par with last year - finally.  Pricing is also rebounding after a dip in early January.  Even better, the average days on market is dropping.  With every indicator showing a significant improvement, I feel pretty confident that the market is now starting to pick up.  This is great news for sellers who want to move.  For buyers, there are still great deals out there, but they may start getting a bit picked over if things continue on this path.  Again, buyers could be much better off to make their move now rather than waiting too much longer. 

The results for the condo market are the same.  More suites are selling, prices are moving upwards a bit, and the days on market is shrinking.

If you have a home to sell, we would recommend that, in general, you get it on the market before the end of February.  You will still need to price it properly for the current market, but your chance of selling your home is growing, and should continue to improve for the next several months.  We would caution against waiting too long to get on the market.  As we move into March and April, we expect inventory to grow quite significantly.  Once there are so many homes on the market, yours could get lost in the noise.

Here are the results from the last 30 days:

Over the last 30 days, 155 single family houses were sold, up by 13 houses from last week.  The median price is up $7,500 to $500,000. The average house was on the market for 76 days.  In the same time period, 99 condos were sold, up by 23 condos from last week.  The median price is up $4,950 to $249,900. The average condo was on the market for 61 days.  There are now 1,716 houses for sale, up by 59 from last week.  Condo inventory has risen by 17 to 884 suites.

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We are finally seeing signs of the Spring market with internet traffic, visits to listings, and sales picking up.  Having said that, the volume of sales and pricing (for resale properties) is still well off of where we we would like to see it.  However, the opportunities are definitely there, with sellers taking less for their homes than they would like but earning that money back by paying less for the home that they buy. 

Sellers should be prepared to price their home sharply, and be ready for it to take longer to sell than they may think. But, the good news is that well priced homes continue to be in demand by buyers who are tired of seeing the same inventory, week after week.

Over the last 30 days, 142 single family houses were sold, up by 15 houses from last week.  The median price is down $2,500 to $492,500. The average house was on the market for 82 days.

In the same time period, 76 condos were sold, up by 4 condos from last week.  The median price is up $10,275 to $244,950. The average condo was on the market for 63 days.

There are now 1,657 houses for sale, down by 1 from last week.  Condo inventory has fallen by 6 to 867 suites.

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If you have been unhappy with the search function on Realtor.ca, or just prefer to use the latest, greatest tools, we've got some great news for you.  We have added a new function to our website that will allow you to search all Victoria area MLS listings directly from PreferredHomes.ca without using realtor.ca at all.  Our site lets you search by neighbourhood or by any map area or shape that you specify.  

It's easy, free of course, and you don't need to sign up or register for anything.  Just click on "All MLS Listings" under the Listings tab.

Would you rather search from your mobile device?  You can do that too!  Just start at our main website, and click on the link to download the software to your mobile phone.  You'll find it just as easy to use and, even better, your phone will show you the details on listings as you drive by them!

Enjoy, and please share this with your friends!

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Watching the stats for the last several weeks, clear trends are apparent:

* The volume of sales is low and is picking up.

* The number of homes on the market has passed the lowest point of the year and is climbing.

* Selling prices remain flat.

When I talk to fellow Realtors, buyers, and sellers, everybody seems to be interpreting things differently.  To put it very plainly, there is always a human tendency to view things that way that we want to view them.  People that are negative about the market, interpret the statistics that way.  Realtors are hoping for a stronger year for their clients and tend to be very buoyant.  Sellers often feel that there home was built with heavy duty nails and is the best on the market.  At The Preferred Homes Team, we try to step aside from our own personal wants and views and look for the opportunities in every market, at every time of the year.

I can see both opportunities and risks for both buyers and sellers.  Most of all, I see this as an excellent time of the year to be a buyer.  There is lots of choice out there, prices are definitely down, and there are enough motivated sellers to let you find a great price.  The press continues to spread fear which keeps some buyers out of the market, keeping sales volumes low, making it even better for the knowledgeable buyers who can see things the way that they really are.  As well, first time buyers have an added incentive to buy a newly built home before March 31, 2013 so that they can take advantage of the $10,000 tax refund.  Most of these first time buyers also qualify to skip the property transfer tax, saving several thousand more.  

Those serious on selling their home should also consider whether they should list their home today, or wait until later in the spring.  The answer here varies for different types of properties.  If I had a condo to sell, I would likely wait and see how the market develops.  Condo prices are pretty soft right now and we do hope that they strengthen this spring.  Those with waterfront homes and similar properties that benefit from better weather may also benefit from waiting.  

Other sellers should give serious consideration to getting their home on the market as soon as possible as inventory levels are considerably lower than they will be a few months from now.  Pricing is not likely to shoot up this spring so I wouldn't recommend waiting for that possibility.  Most important of all, we are seeing very high traffic in several of our listings, higher traffic even than we would expect during the spring rush.  All in all, we hear from buyers that they want to buy, and are having trouble finding properly priced properties.  So, there is your ticket!  Price your home correctly, get it on the market now, and you should have a good chance of finding a buyer.

On a final closing note, all of us here at the Preferred Homes Team: Karl Leong, Mark Roozendaal, and Tori Feldman want to pass our thanks to our clients for helping us have our best year ever!  In fact, our little team was involved in more transactions in 2012 than any other team at RE/MAX Camosun.  Our thanks also to our assistant Sydney who accurately processed over 130 properties.  We all look forward to supporting our clients' real estate needs again in 2013.

Here are the stats from the last 30 days:

Over the last 30 days, 127 single family houses were sold, up by 17 houses from last week.  The median price is up $5,500 to $495,000. The average house was on the market for 80 days.

In the same time period, 72 condos were sold, up by 14 condos from last week.  The median price is up $1,675 to $234,675. The average condo was on the market for 63 days.

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