The dust is settling on the real estate market on Vancouver Island.
Sales of single-family homes in September dropped by 32 per cent from one year ago and 25 per cent from August of 2018.
Don McClintock, president of the Vancouver Island Real Estate said the new mortgage stress test is having an effect on the market because it’s reduced what buyers can spend on a home.
“Probably 20 or 25 per cent which means that if they could have purchased a home for 500,000 dollars at this time last year, then they are going to be down to about 400,000 dollars this year in terms of their qualifications.”
McClintock said the long-term sellers’ market appears to be moving towards more balanced conditions, buyers are not having to deal with multiple offers and sellers need to be realistic when listing their home if they want to sell it.
McClintock said there is getting to be more listings to choose from on Vancouver Island, but the prices of homes are still rising.
He said people are still cashing out in Vancouver and that’s keeping our market ticking north of the Malahat.
Last month, the benchmark price of a single-family home in Duncan was 470,400 dollars, up 11 per cent from September 2017.
Nanaimo’s benchmark price rose 10 per cent to 554,000 dollars while the Parksville-Qualicum area saw its benchmark price increase by 11 per cent to just over 575,000 dollars.
