Active listings numbers for housing continue to drop on Vancouver Island – and it is impacting the prices of single-family homes, which continue to rise.
Last month the benchmark price for a single-family home in the Parksville Qualicum Beach area rose by 35 per cent over the previous year, to $903,300. In October, the benchmark price was $887,300; six months ago it as $797,700; and 12 months ago $671,700.
In other other areas, the benchmark price of a single-family home in Campbell River hit $683,500 in November, up by 30 per cent from the previous year. In the Comox Valley, the year-over-year benchmark price rose by 32 per cent to $785,300. The Cowichan Valley reported a benchmark price of $770,000, an increase of 33 per cent from November 2020 while Nanaimo’s benchmark price rose by 29 per cent, hitting $768,700.
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The benchmark cost for a single-family home in Port Alberni reached $509,100, a 40 per cent year-over-year increase. The benchmark price for the North Island rose by 51 per cent, hitting $417,700 in November.
According the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board, which monitors statistics on home sales and prices, the demand for housing is outpacing current supply, as inventory has hit consecutive historial lows for several months now.
Active listings of single-family homes were 44 per cent lower last month than in November 2020 and dropped by 24 per cent from the previous month.
VIREB’s inventory of condos/apartments declined by 69 per cent from one year ago and was 23 per cent lower than in October. Row/townhouse inventory dropped by 55 per cent year over year and was 47 per cent lower than the previous month.
By category, the 353 single-family homes sold on the MLS system in November is a 16 per cent decrease from one year ago. There were 110 condo/apartment sales last month, ccompared to 107 one year ago and 122 the previous month. In the row/townhouse category, 98 units sold compared to 90 the previous November and 88 in October 2021.
“Increasing housing supply isn’t a simple solution. It requires a co-ordinated effort from all levels of government and adequate incentives for municipalities to take action,” said Ian Mackay, 2021 VIREB president. “Homes need to be built in a reasonable time frame at a reasonable cost, and it cannot continue to take years to get a development off the ground. The public also has a role to play in being open to gentle densification in some areas.”
— NEWS Staff, submitted