First Time Home Buyers

Premier Christy Clark this morning announced a new program designed to support first time homebuyers.

Meeting the press today, Clark referred to the difficulty first time home buyers experience saving up a down payment. While many first time home buyers qualify for a mortgage, they can't assemble funds required for their initial down payment.

Interest & Payment Free for first 5 Years

The BC Home Owner Mortgage and c contributes to the amount first-time homebuyers have already saved for their down payment, providing up to $37,500, or up to 5% of the purchase price, with a 25-year loan that is interest-free and payment-free for the first five years.

 

 

During the first five years, no monthly interest or…

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Current Market Statistics

 

 

High Demand Continues as Inventory Shrinks in the Victoria Housing Market December 1 2016,Victoria, BC

A total of 599 properties sold in the Victoria Real Estate Board region this November, 4.5 per cent more than the 573 properties sold in November last year.

Inventory is Down

Inventory levels remain lower than last year, with 1,815 active listings for sale on the Victoria Real Estate Board Multiple Listing Service® at the end of November 2016, 38.5 per cent fewer than the 2,952 active listings at the end of November 2015.

"Our current housing market is in a strong cycle due to many factors, including our current positive economic conditions, baby boomers retiring here, millennial buying cycles, a low…

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Foreign Buyer Tax in Victoria? You may recall that late this summer the provincial government rolled out a 15% property transfer tax applicable on homes purchased by foreign buyers. The taxation area was limited to Metro Vancouver only, with the caveat that the government would have the ability to levy the tax on any other area in BC if they saw the need.

This week BC's Ministry of Finance released new foreign buyer data that revealed a month over month increase in foreign buyers into the Capital Regional District (CRD).

The increase in sales in October has brought new attention to the CRD and Minister of Finance Michael de Jong has said he is watching the upward trend closely.

New data also shows that foreign buyers are slowly increasing…

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Competitive Housing Market in Victoria Continues as Inventory Remains Low November 1 2016, Victoria, BC A total of 735 properties sold in the Victoria Real Estate Board region this October, a single property more than the 734 properties sold in October last year.

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Inventory levels remain lower than last year, with 1,938 active listings for sale on the Victoria Real Estate Board Multiple Listing Service® at the end of October 2016, 38.9 per cent fewer than the 3,170 active listings at the end of October 2015.

“We continue to…

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The fear following Vancouver’s 15% foreign sales tax was that those buyers would be pushed to Toronto. Has that happened?

The answer may soon be available.

Urbanation released a survey of condo foreign purchasers, which found foreign buyers account for just 5% of Toronto condo sales, compared to 52% of condo sales going to domestic investors.

“The results of this very important survey show a rather limited role of foreign buyers in the GTA new condo market and a very significant overall share of investors,” Shaun Hildebrand, senior vice president of Urbanation, said. “These estimates coincide with the percentages of new condos entering the rental market upon completion, indicating the important role investors play in the GTA housing market.”

…

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Victoria removes rezoning requirements for garden suites

Victoria city councillors decided this week to remove the requirement that a homeowner wanting to build a garden suite has to undergo a rezoning.

Garden suites will be permitted in all of Victoria’s single-family residential areas.

Councillors decided this week to remove the requirement that a homeowner wanting to build a garden suite (also known as a carriage house or laneway house) has to undergo a rezoning.

All of the existing requirements for size, setbacks and height will remain in place, but in order to streamline the process, councillors also agreed to delegate approval of garden suites to city planning staff.

Try our Home Price Estimate tool to see what homes are selling…

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Media release from VREB Victoria Housing Market Chills Out For Fall

A total of 781 properties sold in the Victoria Real Estate Board region this September, an increase of 10.9 per cent compared to the 704 properties sold in September last year.

Inventory levels remain lower than last year, with 2,061 active listings for sale on the Victoria Real Estate Board Multiple Listing Service® at the end of September 2016, 40.7 per cent fewer than the 3,478 active listings at the end of September 2015.

If you're ready to start house hunting, you can search real estate listings now. You can also refer to our Buyer's Guide for helpful tools and buying advice. To start working with an agent right away, please contact us.

"This is the lowest level of…

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A total of 883 properties sold in the Victoria Real Estate Board region this August, an increase of 19.2 per cent compared to the 741 properties sold in August last year.

“August is a record breaker in more than one way. For the sixth consecutive month, we have a sales record with more sales than any other month of August on record,” says Mike Nugent, 2016 President of the Board. “We also have the lowest number of listings available for sale in an August than we’ve seen in the last twenty years.

If you're ready to start house hunting, you can search real estate listings now. You can also refer to our Buyer's Guide for helpful tools and buying advice. To start working with an agent right away, please contact us.

That lack of inventory will…

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542 properties sold in the Victoria region this February, a 31.6% increase compared to the 412 properties sold in the same month last year and a 54.4% increase compared to the 351 properties sold last month in January.

"The trees bloomed early in Victoria, and so did local real estate. February was a busy month with numbers closer to what we would expect to see in the spring season." Victoria Real Estate Board President Guy Crozier says. "285 single family homes sold over the course of the month. We've not seen that many single family homes sell in a February since 2008 when we tracked 295 transactions. Though buyers are already in spring purchase mode, the amount of available inventory may not be quite up to the pace. We continue to track the trend of…

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Victoria Real Estate Market continues 2014's upward trend.

February 2, 2015, Victoria BC - The Victoria Real Estate Board today released its report on real estate activity in the Victoria area for January 2015.

351 properties sold in the Victoria region this January, an increase of 2.6% when compared to the 342 properties sold in the same month last year.

"We don't expect to see big numbers in January. It's a slower month traditionally for real estate," Victoria Real Estate Board President Guy Crozier says. "Even this slight increase after the 11.67% year over year increase in sales we saw in 2014 shows the continued stability of our market. There's also a good balance of inventory available for sale, which will likely appeal to buyers as the…

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