Sales activity is heating up in the Vancouver Island housing market, with the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board (VIREB) reporting its strongest June since 2007.
In the capital, sales are also up year over year, as the Victoria Real Estate Board also released its June report on real estate activity July 4.
Across the island, a total of 470 single-family homes sold on the MLS® system in the VIREB coverage area in June 2014. While this represents a slight dip over the 485 sales recorded last month, it marks a 23 % increase over sales activity this time last year.
Inventory levels continue to remain slightly lower than last year, which is in line with the trend occurring over the past few months. Active listings for the month of June were down 4.4 per cent over this time last year.
In June 2014, the benchmark price for a single-family home in the VIREB coverage area was $318,500 with an MLS® HPI index value of 149.7. This represents a 49.7 per cent increase since January 2005, when the index was 100. The benchmark price is up 1.22 per cent from last month and increased 2.46 per cent over last year. The average price of a single-family home in the VIREB area was $346,861, which represents a 2 per cent increase over this time last year.
In Victoria, 680 properties sold in June 2014 compared with 664 in June 2013 an increase of 2.4 per cent year over year. Compared with May, there was a 5 per cent drop in sales, which follows a common seasonal trend as summer approaches. Compared with 2013, 2014 shows an 8.9 per cent increase in year-to-date sales.
"We continue to see slow and steady growth in our overall sales numbers," said Victoria Real Estate Board president Tim Ayres. "May and June represent the top two sales months we have seen since spring 2010."
The MLS® HPI benchmark value for single-family homes in the Victoria Core area for June is $556,200, which is an increase in value of 1.8 per cent over last year. The most common price range for single-family homes in the entire region is $400,000-$600,000, with 48% of June sales in this range.
