Would-be buyers of single-family homes on the Saanich Peninsula must bring at least $1 million to the table in two out of three Peninsula communities according to new figures from the Victoria Real Estate Board (VREB) detailing August sales.
They show Sidney the cheapest place on the Peninsula to buy a single-family home, as measured by VREB, with a home price index benchmark value of $901,700, followed by Central Saanich with $1.046 million and North Saanich with $1.314 million.
Looking at actual sales of single-family homes, North Saanich led the Peninsula communities with 13 sales totalling $27.9 million, followed by Central Saanich with 10 sales totalling $13.89 million and Sidney with six sales totalling $5.88 million.
These figures place Sidney below the benchmark price for a single-family home for Greater Victoria ($1.005 million) and Central Saanich and North Saanich above it. Looking across the Peninsula, the benchmark price for a single-family home is $1.092 million, ahead of Greater Victoria and Victoria’s core ($1.089 million). By comparison, the benchmark price for a single-family home on the West Shore is $869,400.
More broadly, 831 properties of various kinds changed owners in August, a drop of 15.1 per cent compared to August 2020. Compared to July, sales declined by 0.5 per cent. These figures appear to reflect declining sales of single-family homes.
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Condominium sales in August were up 31.7 per cent from August 2020 with 345 units sold and up 21.5 per cent compared to July. By comparison, sales of single-family homes in August were down 29.9 per cent from August 2020 with 357 sold and 9.8 per cent down from July.
David Langlois, VREB’s president, said sales are slowing down because of lacking inventory. “Without the significant lack of inventory we’re experiencing, sales would most certainly have been comparable to, if not greater than, last August,” said Langlois.
These figures appear against the backdrop of the federal election campaign and Langlois used the occasion to offer a general critique.
While acknowledging various measures to curb prices, Langlois said they will not address the “systemic lack of housing supply” behind rising real estate prices. “The municipal, provincial and federal governments’ failure to support real growth and diversity in housing stocks has created the market conditions we find ourselves in today,” said Langlois, without endorsing any specific party platform.
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