September: It’s all about them rates
September is a wrap, and it’s clear that rising rates are putting a damper on the market, at least in terms of activity. Though the headline numbers look ok (reported sales at 493 are up...
September is a wrap, and it’s clear that rising rates are putting a damper on the market, at least in terms of activity. Though the headline numbers look ok (reported sales at 493 are up...
Just under a year ago, the BC government abolished rental restrictions in BC condos. As a reminder, at the time the landscape of condos looked like the chart below, with the majority of condos built...
We’re 2 years into the current term of the federal government, and back when they were campaigning for the election, none of the parties had a particularly compelling housing policy. Many of the promised policies...
Victoria saw a strong week for new listings to start off the fall market. There were 35% more new resale listings in metro Victoria last week than the same week a year ago, and that...
August ended with 544 sales, up 14% from last year’s total, and 21% below the 10 year average. Weak sales activity no doubt, though also a remarkable display of resilience given that mortgage rates haven’t...
I’ve spilled a lot of virtual ink on affordability on this blog and why I believe it matters. In short, there are generally two affordability stories: For condos, affordability has oscillated between bad and good...
Two years ago the average Canadian borrower was paying just under 2% for a new mortgage while bank accounts were paying near zero interest and GICs were in the 1% range. Convential wisdom was that...
Suites are extremely common in Victoria. With a stagnation in purpose built rental construction (until recent years), chronically low rental vacancy rates driving rents up, and high house prices that drive many people to mortgage...
The City of Victoria has been in the news recently with their changes to their short term rental regulations. As a reminder, though short term rentals are not permitted under zoning in most of the...
July ended with sales a respectable 17% above last July’s total, while new listings were about the same and inventory was up 12%. That was a substantial improvement from mid-month when sales were running about...