Market Insight Series – April 2022 - Tools for Productivity and Success

What does the current Victoria real estate market look like?

As part of our monthly Market Insight Series, I am excited to continue to bring you regular insights into the Victoria and Vancouver Island market trends, so you can make better buying and selling decisions. Below I will jump into the most important market numbers to look into, I will provide glossary term definitions, and will conclude with resources if you want to further research current trends and stats. If you want to see what the Market Insight for the previous month was, click here.

The Bank of Canada has increased the current mortgage rates again, but they remain low and are still a great incentive to get into the market. As with the previous months, the absorption rate is still high and we continue to remain in what is considered a strong seller’s market as there is even less supply to satisfy the continued demand for housing.

Last month was another record breaking month with the lowest number of active listing in a month of March. Sales are still trailing 29% lower than this time last year, but steadily climbing with 833 properties sold in March compared to 718 in February. Absorption rates are also declining from their recent historical highs of 120% down to 108% last month.

Below is a table that outlines the current (April 2022) housing benchmark pricing along with a sample calculation that can give you an idea of what it might cost you to own a home.Despite this persistent trend there are number of factors that will compete to determine the direction of the upcoming Spring market including rising interest rates, promised government intervention like cooling-off periods, inflationary pressures, and record prices. March is typically the start of the busy Spring real estate season and although time will tell how active this Spring will be the current activity is still at a fever pitch.

Even though the stats may not look lucrative compared to last month there are still opportunities for ordinary people looking to get into their first home, or move up into one of the more affordable homes that are in and around the $1M or less range. It just takes a bit more diligence, and ideally the support of a committed agent.

Conclusion

The goal is to give you insight into what the overall market view looks like in Victoria and Vancouver Island. I have included more Resources below so that you can dive in and read more at your leisure. I will also make sure to include a new Glossary Term each month, and define it to add to your knowledge of common industry terms.

Feel free to contact me if you want to learn more or if you have any questions about the broader market trends.

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Glossary Term

Mortgage Insurance

Mortgage insurance is an insurance policy that protects a mortgage lender or titleholder if the borrower defaults on payments, passes away, or is otherwise unable to meet the contractual obligations of the mortgage. If your down payment is less than 20% of a home’s purchase price, you need mortgage loan insurance, also referred to as mortgage insurance or mortgage default insurance. Lenders require this insurance because a lower down payment means your mortgage is for a higher ratio of your home’s value, and lenders consider borrowers with high ratio mortgages as having a higher risk of default or non-payment.

Resources

1. VREB Insight:

https://www.vreb.org/pdf/VREBNewsReleaseFull.pdf

2. Mortgage Calculator:

https://www.cchwebsites.com/content/calculators/CAMortgageLoan.html

3. Mortgage Rate By Bank:

https://www.rbcroyalbank.com/mortgages/mortgage-rates.html

https://www.td.com/ca/en/personal-banking/products/mortgages/mortgage-rates/

https://www.bmo.com/main/personal/mortgages/mortgage-rates/

https://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/personal/rates-prices/mortgages-rates.html

https://www.cibc.com/en/interest-rates/mortgage-rates.html

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