NANAIMO – The Vancouver Island Real Estate Board (VIREB) recorded 566 unit sales and 3,478 active listings (all property types) board-wide on the MLS® System in November 2024, up 17 and three per cent, respectively.
In the single-family category (excluding acreage and waterfront), 267 homes sold in November, up 14 per cent from one year ago and down 23 per cent from October. Sales of condo apartments last month came in at 62, increasing by 13 per cent year over year and down 23 per cent from October. In the row/townhouse category, 76 units changed hands in November, up 58 per cent from one year ago and down eight per cent from October.
Active listings of single-family homes were 1,105 in November, up from the 1,040 posted one year ago. VIREB’s inventory of condo apartments was 314 last month, up from 285 in November 2023. There were 257 row/townhouses for sale last month compared to 282 the previous year.
VIREB expects to close out 2024 on a good note, with about 7,400 sales, significantly higher than the 7,114 sales seen in 2023. The British Columbia Real Estate Association projects sales in the VIREB area to be around 7,900 in 2025. However, the threat of tariffs imposed by the incoming American administration creates an environment of uncertainty for the Canadian economy as a whole, including the housing market.
VIREB CEO Jason Yochim reports that with an absorption rate of 16 per cent, the VIREB area remains in a balanced market, which offers buyers and sellers the best of both worlds.
“With just over six months of inventory last month, we edged slightly from a balanced market into one favouring buyers,” says Yochim. “While 2024 transactions haven’t turned out as we’d hoped, members are positive about 2025, with many clients stating they plan to buy or sell next year.’
Moving on to prices, the board-wide benchmark price (MLS® Home Price Index) of a single-family home was $778,400 in November 2024, up two per cent from one year ago and a slight uptick from October. In the apartment category, the benchmark price was $396,400 last month, down one per cent from the previous November and a small increase from October. The benchmark price of a townhouse in November was $544,400, down one per cent from one year ago and one per cent from October.
In Campbell River, the benchmark price of a single-family home was $713,700 last month, up seven per cent from the previous year. The Comox Valley’s year-over-year benchmark price rose by three per cent to $842,600.
In the Cowichan Valley, the benchmark price was $769,300, down one per cent from November 2023. Nanaimo’s year-over-year benchmark price rose by two per cent to $812,900, while the Parksville-Qualicum area saw its benchmark price increase by three per cent to $885,900.
The cost of a benchmark single-family home in Port Alberni was $494,400, up two per cent from the previous year. For the North Island, the benchmark price of a single-family home rose by five per cent to $430,700.
Source: VIREB