Briefing highlights
- Victoria housing market sizzles
- Global markets mixed, largely down
- Video: Use of social media in the office
Victoria sizzles
It doesn’t get much prettier than Victoria. At this point, housing markets don’t get much hotter, either.
And there are warnings that the B.C. capital could get hotter still if the new provincial tax on foreign buyers of Vancouver properties sends that money to Victoria.
According to the latest statistics, Victoria home sales surged by more than 20 per cent in July from a year earlier, outpacing every city in Canada. That came even amid the “seasonal slowdown that we expect this time of year,” said Victoria Real Estate Board president Mike Nugent.
And listings are drying up, down 45 per cent in July from last year.
At the same time, prices are surging. The Multiple Listing Service home price index benchmark value for a single family home now stands at $741,100, nowhere near that of Vancouver but up almost 24 per cent from a year ago.
And that’s at least partly the point.
“Given its proximity to Greater Vancouver and its 43-per-cent lower prices on a typical property, Victoria’s market could get another injection of fuel if foreign buyers look outside the [Greater Vancouver Area] to avoid the new 15-per-cent land transfer tax,” said BMO Nesbitt Burns senior economist Sal Guatieri.
Others also wonder what will happen after the B.C. government moved to cool the Vancouver market.
“Does this mean international demand will spill over into Victoria and other areas of B.C.?” said Mr. Nugent.
“We won’t know until we see the data,” he added.
“The Capital Regional district saw 2 per cent out-of-country buyers in the year of 2015. Although this is a small percentage of our buyers, anecdotally foreign buyers do tend to favour the same core neighbourhoods and therefore can have an impact on those areas.”