1. real estate

REAL ESTATE IN VICTORIA...Keeping You Informed
Spring 2015
VICTORIA OFF TO BEST START SINCE 2010
“REGULATOR SLAMS AGENT...”
Earlier this year, the Globe and Mail carried an article about a complaint to the Real Estate Council of British Columbia
(RECBC). The essence of the complaint was that the buyer’s agent attempted to maximize his commission by withholding
information from his client. The buyer’s agent presented an offer of $940,000 on a property listed at $969,000 with an
increased commission for himself that was almost double that being offered by the seller. The sellers made a counteroffer
of $958,000, along with a letter from the seller’s agent that stated: “[the sellers] did not accept your request for an increased
commission and feel that we are being compensated fairly (which I have to agree).” The buyer’s agent did not present the
counteroffer to his clients. Rather, he advised the buyers to offer the full list price, again with an increased commission for
himself. The sellers accepted the full price offer with the increased commission. The sellers couldn’t understand why the
buyers would come back with an offer that was higher than their counteroffer. After the sale completed, the sellers brought
their concerns to their lawyer and in turn to the buyer’s lawyer. When confronted, the buyer’s agent readily accepted
responsibility. The buyers received a “satisfactory undisclosed settlement” out of court from the agent and his brokerage.
On December 15, 2014, the RECBC ruled on the complaint and found that the buyer’s agent had committed professional
misconduct in that he: “(a) failed to present a counteroffer from the sellers of the property to his client...; (b) permitted his
client to make a further offer on the property that was substantially higher than the sellers’ undisclosed counteroffer...; (c)
failed to inform his client that the commission he requested as buyer’s representative on the first offer was substantially
higher than the commission ordinarily given for similar transaction...; (d) failed to inform his client that the second higher offer
contained a higher commission than that which was being offered to a cooperating brokerage; and (e) failed to take
reasonable steps to avoid a conflict of interest in that he permitted his personal financial interest to conflict with his clients’
interest.” All of this was contrary to the Real Estate Services Act and the Council rules. The agent was suspended for 60
days, required to pay penalties totalling $3,750 and to undertake remedial training. This decision was posted on the RECBC
website: http://www.recbc.ca/complaints/discipline.html where it will remain for five years for all consumers to see.
Stories of this nature reflect poorly on the reputation of the real estate profession as a whole. The RECBC receives about
400 complaints a year concerning Realtors’ conduct. Most of these are minor, for example, failure to return a call or to
remove one’s shoes during showings, and so on. There were
408,412 MLS sales over the past five years in BC, which represents
TABLE 1: STATISTICAL TRENDS - ALL RESIDENTIAL
816,824 transactions. There was a total of 215 disciplinary actions
(Greater Victoria and Other Areas)
concerning Realtors taken by the RECBC during this period, or 0.03%
of the total transactions. If one digs deeper, we find that there were
QUARTER-TO-QUARTER COMPARISONS
58 disciplinary actions taken by the RECBC in 2014 against Realtors.
Of these, 35 resulted in a reprimand and were largely the result of
1 Qtr 14
1 Qtr 15 Change
New Listings
2,833
3,236
+403
errors or omissions, 20 were of a more serious nature and resulted in
Sales
1,265
1,546
+281
licence suspensions and 3 Realtors had their licences cancelled or
Avg Sale Price
$488,954
$494,446 +$5,492
agreed to leave the industry. These are relatively small numbers
Median Sale Price $432,500
$455,000 +$22,500
considering there are some 17,374 Realtors licenced in BC.
Ratio Sales-to-Listings
.44
.48
+0.04
Avg Days to Sell
66
63
-3
Misconduct occurs in all professions. Perhaps consumers can
Sale Price as %
take some comfort in the fact that serious misconduct is a rare
of Org List Price
94.9%
96.5%
+1.6%
occurrence in the real estate profession and that they have
Mortgages Rates
(3 yr Fixed BoC)
3.75%
3.39% -0.36%
recourse to the RECBC to seek redress and to ensure
accountability.
st
st
2 REAL ESTATE IN VICTORIA...Keeping You Informed
Spring 2015
THE VICTORIA MARKET
In the 1st Qtr of 2015, the real estate market in Victoria got off to
one of the strongest starts in recent years. Supply (i.e., the
number of homes put up for sale) was higher than the same
period last year. However, demand (i.e., the number of sales)
showed a significant increase. The median sale price has
increased significantly from a year ago. The inventory of
properties on the market is down. Finally, the differential
between the sale price and the original list price has tightened,
suggesting there are fewer price reductions occurring.
The number of “residential properties” (i.e., all types of housing
excluding lots/acreage and commercial) listed through the
Victoria Real Estate Board’s MLS® in the 1st Qtr of 2015 in was
3,236, up +14.2% from 2,833 in the 1ST Qtr of 2014. Demand
was up from the levels in recent years. Residential sales through
the VREB’s MLS® totalled 1,546 in the 1st Qtr of 2015, up +22.2%
from 1,265 in the 1st Qtr of 2014. The sales-to-new-listings ratio
was .48, up from .44 last year. Properties that sold in the 1st Qtr
of 2015 were on the market for an average of 63 days compared
to 66 days last year. The average sale price of a residential
property in Greater Victoria and other areas was $494,446 in
the 1st Qtr of 2015, up +1.1% from $488,954 in the 1st Qtr of
2014 and still off the market peak of $504,491 in the 1st Qtr of
2010. The median sale price was $455,000 in the 1st Qtr of 2015,
up +5.2% from $432,500 last year.
The figures for Victoria compare with average residential sale
prices and year-to-date percentage changes of $859,223 (+3.2%)
in Vancouver, $578,411 (+6.7%) in Toronto, $541,031 (+5.9%) in
the Fraser Valley and $441,238 (-2.7%) in Calgary for the first two
months of 2015.
THE MARKET INVENTORY
As shown in Table 2, there were 2,690 properties (including lots
and acreage) active on the VREB’s MLS® database for the
Greater Victoria area (i.e., excluding the Malahat, Up-Island and
the Gulf Islands) on Apr 1, 2015, down -6.7% from 2,884 on Apr
1, 2014.
SINGLE FAMILY DWELLINGS (SFDS)
Sales of SFDs in Greater Victoria totalled 843 in the 1st Qtr of
2015, up +27.5% from 661 sales during the same period last
year. The average sale price of SFDs in the 1st Qtr of 2015
was $612,575, up +0.9% from $607,202 last year. The median
sale price was $559,500 in the 1st Qtr of 2015, up 5.6% from
$530,000 last year. SFDs that sold in the 1st Qtr of 2015 were on
the market for an average of 50 days, down from 60 days a year
ago. The sales-to-new-listings ratio was .50 in the 1st Qtr of 2015,
up from .42 last year. As shown in Chart 2, the average sale
price continues to fluctuate around the $600,000 mark with no
discernable trend evident. However, the median sale price
shows a slight upward trend over the past two years.
Seller’s Market
Balanced Market
Buyer’s Market
TABLE 2:
INVENTORY - GREATER VICTORIA
Type of Property
Apr 2014
Single Family Dwelling 1,350
Condominiums
830
Townhouses
311
Lots/Acreage
298
Man. Home/Rental Pad
74
Duplexes (Revenue)
9
Triplexes+ (Revenue)
11
Totals
2,884
Apr 2015
1,266
840
245
256
61
7
15
2,690
Change
-84
+10
-66
-42
-13
-2
+4
-194
3 REAL ESTATE IN VICTORIA...Keeping You Informed
Spring 2015
CONDOMINIUMS
Condominium sales also increased in the 1st Qtr of 2015 with total
sales of 428, up +20.2% from 356 in the 1st Qtr of 2014. The
average sale price for a condo was $327,012 in the 1st Qtr of
2015, little changed from $327,032 last year. The median sale
price was $279,900, compared to $275,000 last year. Condos
that sold in the 1st Qtr were on the market for an average of 64
days, down from 76 days last year. The sales-to-new-listings
ratio was .45 in the 1st Qtr of 2015, up from .41 last year. As
shown in Chart 3, the average and median sale prices of
condominiums have shown an upward trend since the 1st Qtr of
2013.
TOWNHOUSES
Townhouse sales totalled 164 in the 1st Qtr of 2015, up +21.9% from 135 last year. The average selling price was
$427,739 in the 1st Qtr of 2015, up slightly from $424,686 in the 1st Qtr of 2014. The median sale price was $383,000,
compared to $385,000 last year. Townhouses that sold in the 1st Qtr of 2015 were on the market for an average of 56 days,
down from 64 days in last year. The sales-to-new-listings ratio was .53, compared to .41 last year. As shown in Chart 4,
average and median sale prices have remained flat over the past three years with no discernable trend.
LOTS/ACREAGE
Another positive sign for the real estate market in Victoria is the increase in the sale of lots/acreage. There were 34 sales
in the 1st Qtr of 2015 compared to 24 in the 1st Qtr of 2014 and 15 in the 1st Qtr of 2013. The average sale price and median
sales prices of lots/acreage in the 1st Qtr of 2015 were $336,915 and $307,000 respectively.
M ARK YOUR CALENDAR - UPCOM ING EVENTS IN GREATER VICTORIA
Victoria has a vibrant arts and culture scene and a host of events over the year that caters to the interests of just about
everyone, m any of which are free. The following are but a few of these events scheduled for 2015 that include: arts, food,
m usic, film , heritage and sports. For a com plete list, check out the Tourism Victoria website at www.tourism victoria.com .
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Victoria Young Life’s 25 th Annual Home Design and Reno Tour (Apr 11-12) www.younglife.ca/victoriahom etour
Times Colonist 10K Run - Half M arathon - Thrifty Food Family Run (Apr 26) www.tc10k.ca
152 nd Victoria Highland Games and Celtic Festival - Topaz Park (May 16-18) www.victoriahighlandgam es.com
Sw iftsure International Yacht Race 2015 - Dallas Road (May 23-25) www.swiftsure.org
53 rd Annual Oak Bay Tea Party and Parade - Oak Bay and W illows Beach (June 6-7) www.oakbayteaparty.com
TD Victoria international JazzFest 2015 - various venues downtown (June 19-28) www.jazzvictoria.ca/jazz-fest
Buskers Festival 2015 - various sites in downtown (July 17-26) www.victoriabuskers.com
TD Art Gallery Paint-In 2015 - Moss Street (July 18) www.aggv.ca/events/td-art-gallery-paint-2015
Symphony Splash 2015 - Inner Harbour (Aug 3) www.victoriasym phony.ca/com m unity/splash/
Victoria Dragon Boat Festival - Inner Harbour (August 14-16) www.victoriadragonboat.com /
Victoria Fringe Festival - various venues downtown (Aug 27 - Sept 6) www.intrepidtheatre.com /
38 th Classic Boat Festival - Inner Harbour (Sep 4-6) www.classicboatfestival.ca
Vancouver Island Feast of Fields - Kildrea Farm s, Sidney (Sep 14) www.farm folkcityfolk.ca/events/feast-of-fields/
GoodLife Fitness Victoria M arathon, Half M arathon and 8K (Oct11) www.runvictoriam arathon.com /
Real Estate in Victoria ...Keeping You Informed: I provide this newsletter to clients, customers and friends to help them keep informed of
developments in the real estate market in the Victoria area. If you do not want to receive this newsletter in the future, please let me know. It is not
intended to solicit or interfere with existing listings or Agency relationships. The information contained herein is based on sources which are believed
to be reliable, but it is not guaranteed. The content of this newsletter is copyright©. The data and information outlined herein was derived from a number
of sources including: the VREB, the BCREA and the CREA. The Publisher is responsible for the analysis of the data and any opinions expressed herein.
4 REAL ESTATE IN VICTORIA...Keeping You Informed
Spring 2015
REAL ESTATE ACTIVITY GREATER VICTORIA
Single Family Dwellings
April 2014 to March 2015
With an Analysis of Year-Over-Year
Changes and a Breakdown by District
Gulf Islands
Sales: 256
242
Ratio: .53
.54
Avg Sale Price: $541,778
$561,553
% Change: +24.9%
+13.3%
New Listings: 6,207
Sales: 3,619
Ratio Sales to Listings: .58
Average Sale Price: $611,038
Price Change 12 month period
April 2014 to March 2015 over
April 2013 to March 2014 +1.1%
Malahat and Area
Sales: 260
Ratio: .54
Avg Sale Price: $455,240
% Change: +2.9%
SAANICH EAST
WEST
Vic
W est
C opyright 2015, R eal Estate in V ictoria
District*
Sales
Ratio Avg Sale Price % Chg
Victoria/VW
443
.62
$623,053
+3.9
Oak Bay
259
.62
$922,866
+4.2
Esquimalt
125
.65
$484,851
+5.2
View Royal
90
.60
$534,741
+1.2
Saanich East
799
.68
$640,043
+0.4
Saanich West
338
.60
$536,730
-2.1
Central Saanich
177
.59
$613,978
+2.9
North Saanich
161
.57
$672,216
+6.1
Sidney
115
.57
$467,153
+4.5
Highlands
22
.34
$653,431
+13.8
Colwood
202
.54
$500,720
+3.6
Langford
486
.54
$484,544
+ 0.0
Metchosin
36
.41
$674,962
+10.8
Sooke
238
.48
$389,474
-0.2
Waterfront
128
.43
$1,217,423
+1.4
Totals
3,619
.58
$611,038
+1.1
*District Avg. Sales Prices exclude sales of “Waterfront”