Welcome to this new section of my website where I will be keeping you up to date on market activity, recent and projected statistics, new listings and sales and other pertinent real estate info....

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To begin, I'd like to shed some light on the question on everybody's mind. "What is happening in the Victoria real estate market now, and what might happen next?"

I have attached an article here that I think gives an excellent analysis of the information we have about the figures for 2008 and a reasonable forecast for 2009.

Please keep in mind that nobody (not even these chief economists) KNOWS what will happen in the future. Nobody predicted the huge increase in demand for Victoria's real estate in 2004 which started the massive spike in average selling prices we've seen in the last four years. Nobody predicted that this trend would continue so solidly, and for as long as it did. Each year many economists' estimates were exceeded.

Also, please keep in mind that a "drop in sales" is not a drop in prices. "Sales" or "Number of sales" is the number of MLS listings that successfully sell in a particular area within a period of time. A drop in sales usually means a drop in price, but the two occur at different rates. Sales fluctuate throughout the year quite drastically (higher in spring and summer, drooping in the fall and low in winter.) Sale prices usually stay more consistent during these yearly ups and downs, unless the market is making a bigger shift.

Here is the excerpt from the BC Real Estate and Housing's report, specifically regarding Victoria: Link to PDF.

So as you can see, this report is forecasting the number of sales to be down by the end of 2008, but up again in 2009, whereas the prices will have overall seen a rise this year, and will likely fall slightly on average next year.

In my opinion, we live in an area that, for many reasons, is quite resilient from economic slow-down. Our economy is not overly resource based (e.g.  Government and the tech industry are huge employers,) we enjoy the most desirable climate in the country and our city is a nice medium size - both factors which attract residents from other areas both rural and urban.

So what does the current and future state of the market mean for you?

I think it means different things for Buyers and for Sellers and I would advise differently on timing for each type of property as well.

I advise my clients like I would advise my friends and family. I don't want you to make the wrong decisions, and will help you to achieve your real estate goal whenever the timing is right. Please let me know if you have a question in this regard.

Thanks for reading!

Naomi