December ended on a subdued note for the real estate market, as evidenced by the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board (VIREB) reporting only 7,297 property transactions in 2023. This figure marks a decrease from the 11,045 sales in 2021 and a slight drop from the 7,810 transactions in 2022. The primary factor for this downturn is attributed to high interest rates, which deterred many prospective buyers despite there being a strong market demand. These buyers are seemingly holding off purchases in anticipation of a rate decrease in 2024.
Focusing on December’s specifics, sales of single-family homes in the VIREB region totaled 151, a 23% reduction from the previous December and a 36% decrease from November. Condominium sales experienced a mixed trend, with 39 units sold, reflecting an 11% increase over the same period last year but a 30% fall from November. In the row/townhouse sector, there were 39 sales in December, a significant 50% increase from the previous year but a 22% decrease from November 2023.
Inventory levels also shifted. There were only 796 single-family homes listed in December, down from 895 the previous year and 1,040 in November. The condo market saw 257 listings, a slight increase from 248 in December 2022, but a reduction from 285 in November. The row/townhouse listings stood at 244 last month, up from 229 a year earlier but down from 282 in November.
Benchmark prices for December were as follows.
- Single-family – $753,000 (up 5% y-o-y)
- Apartment – $384,500 (up 3% y-o-y)
- Townhouse – $544,200 (up 2% y-o-y)
