The number of listings in Greater Victoria’s hot property market has dropped to the point where there is almost one real estate agent for every listing.
At the end of March, there were 1,556 active listings and 1,353 licensed agents, according to the Victoria Real Estate Board. Victoria is in the midst of a seller’s market where prices are climbing and listings numbers are shrinking. There are plenty of buyers, but not enough homes for sale.
A decade ago, there were 3,079 listings in March, nearly double what we see today. Real estate agent numbers fluctuate but were close to today’s figure, at 1,310 in 2007.
Other numbers have changed.
In March, the benchmark price for a single-family house in the core was $790,100.
A decade ago, it was $542,504.
There were 929 properties sold through the Victoria Real Estate Board last month, a drop of 17.1 per cent from 1,121 sales in the same month last year.
The low number of listings “implies that there are a lot of realtors who do not have a listing on the go at this time,” said real estate board president Ara Balabanian.
Greater Victoria’s general real estate cycle sees the market stay fairly level for five to seven years, followed by an abrupt increase in price, and then it levels off again, Balabanian said.
