MARKET UPDATE

FEBRUARY

2015

Holmes Realty Ltd. 2481 Beacon Ave.

Sidney, BC V8L 1X9

250-656-0911

WWW.HOLMESREALTY.COM

January 2015 gave us 351 sales of MLS listed property in the Greater Victoria Area. This represents a 2.6% increase in total sales when compared to this time last year.

Traditionally, January is one of the slowest months in our Victoria market. That said, this slight bump in numbers coupled with last years 11.67% year-over-year increase, low inter-est rates and a balanced inventory could be a sign of good things to come. Additionally, last month gave us 95 home sales over the $500,000 point.

The benchmark Home Price Index value for a single family home in the Victoria Real Estate Board in January was $489,000 up from $477,400. The benchmark value for Condos has remained roughly the same since last month at $287,600. Townhome prices also remained the same with a benchmark price of $401,200 compared to $401,400 in December.

In the Greater Victoria Area, there were 12 sales over one million dollars of which four were over two million and one over three million. Three of these million plus sales were water-front properties. Last month, three condominiums sold over for over the one million dollar mark. These were in the James Bay, Fairfield and the Songhees neighbouhoods.

Our area-wide absorption rate jumped slightly to 6.6 months of inventory in January. This January rise in absorption rate has been present for at least the last five years and is due to the seasonal lull in sales. While this is the first time since last April that the absorption rate has risen, we are still well within the range for a balanced market.

6.6

8.59.1

9.49.8 10.0

9.48.9 8.8

9.29.5 9.7 9.6

10.6

11.511.9

11.210.5

9.3

8.4

7.8 7.7 7.5 7.5 7.4

7.9

9.09.3

9.6

9.2

8.3

7.4

6.6 6.56.1 6.0

5.8

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

Septem

ber

October

Novem

ber

Decem

ber

Month

s of

Invento

ryAbsorption Rate

Greater Victoria Area - (2012-2015)

2012 2013 2014 2015

THE UPWARD TREND CONTINUES

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

2012 372 497 570 586 659 637 523 462 419 373 366 283

2013 294 394 483 615 659 664 583 540 487 512 412 355

2014 342 412 575 664 714 680 681 609 565 602 465 389

2015 351

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Num

ber

of

Sale

s

Monthly Sales ComparisonGreater Victoria - (2012-2015)

CAPITAL REGION SALES

An absorption rate is the rate at which avail-able homes are in a specific market area during a given period of time.

This is calculated by dividing the average number of sales into the number of homes currently on the market.

The rate shows how many months it will take to exhaust the supply of homes. A value be-tween 5 and 6 months is considered to indi-cate a healthy, balanced market. A value over 6 is considered a Buyers market, and values under 5 are generally a Sellers market.

361

MO

NT

HS

OF

IN

VE

NT

OR

Y

6

5

4

3

7

8

BALANCED

BUYERMARKET

SELLERMARKET

HOW TO INTERPRET ABSORPTION RATES

6.6

8.59.1

9.49.8 10.0

9.48.9 8.8

9.29.5 9.7 9.6

10.6

11.511.9

11.210.5

9.3

8.4

7.8 7.7 7.5 7.5 7.4

7.9

9.09.3

9.6

9.2

8.3

7.4

6.6 6.56.1 6.0

5.8

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

Septem

ber

October

Novem

ber

Decem

berM

onth

s of

Invento

ryAbsorption Rate

Greater Victoria Area - (2012-2015)

2012 2013 2014 2015

2.48

3.23 3.00 3.13

4.05

2.51

3.14

4.78 4.93

2.65

10.00

4.74 4.90

12.00

8.69

0.00

2.00

4.00

6.00

8.00

10.00

12.00

14.00

Month

s of

Invento

ryAbsorption Rates - Single Family Detached

January 2015

5.92

4.76

4.17

7.007.25

6.23

9.09

4.50

3.20

6.81

0.00

2.00

4.00

6.00

8.00

10.00

12.00

Month

s of

Invento

ryAbsorption Rates - Condominiums

January 201563.00

2.17

8.25

6.00 6.00

3.393.05

3.93

2.732.40

3.11

7.767.15

15.27

0.00

2.00

4.00

6.00

8.00

10.00

12.00

14.00

16.00

18.00

Month

s of

Invento

ryAbsorption Rates - Townhouses

January 2015

6.00

4.59

0.60

10.36

12.86

0.00

2.00

4.00

6.00

8.00

10.00

12.00

14.00

Month

s of

Invento

ryAbsorption Rates - Manufactured Homes

January 2015

0

1

1

2

2

3

3

4

4

5

54.93

n/a

2.40

n/a

2.65

3.20

3.11

0.60

4.78

4.50

2.73

4.59

Absorption Rates - Saanich PeninsulaJanuary 2015

North Saanich Sidney Central Saanich

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

2012 372 497 570 586 659 637 523 462 419 373 366 283

2013 294 394 483 615 659 664 583 540 487 512 412 355

2014 342 412 575 664 714 680 681 609 565 602 465 389

2015 351

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Num

ber

of

Sale

sMonthly Sales Comparison

Greater Victoria - (2012-2015)

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

Active Listings / Number of SalesGreater Victoria - (last 24 months)

Active Listings Number of Sales

SINGLE FAMILY DETACHED

North Saanich Central Saanich Sidney

Listed Sold Listed Sold Listed Sold

$0 – $499K 1 2 4 0 9 1

$500K – $799K 25 8 23 8 11 0

$800K – $999K 8 0 6 0 1 1

$1000K – $1999K 21 0 9 0 0 1

$2000K + 9 0 5 0 0 0

CONDOS & TOWNHOMES

PENINSULA Listed Sold

$0 – $199K 3 3

$200K – $399K 42 8

$400K – $799K 14 6

$800K – $999K 1 0

$1000K + 2 0

MANUFACTURED

PENINSULA Listed Sold

$0 – $99K 4 0

$100K – $149K 3 1

$150K – $199K 4 0

$200K – $249K 3 0

$250K + 0 0

SFD WATERFRONT

PENINSULA Listed Sold

$0 – $999K 3 0

$1000K – $1499K 7 0

$1500K – $1999K 5 0

$2000K – $2999K 2 0

$3000K + 12 0

LOTS & LAND

PENINSULA Listed Sold

$0 – $299K 5 0

$300K – $499K 17 2

$500K – $699K 3 0

$700K – $999K 4 1

$1000K + 12 0

“Listed” : The number of MLS listings presently on the market at the end of the month indicated.“Sold” : The number of MLS listings with unconditional offers in the month indicated.

PENINSULA

INVENTORY VS SALES

(By Price Range) - January 2015