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SEPTEMBER MARKET UPDATE

NANAIMO, BC – Last month, there were 266 sales of single-family homes in the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board (VIREB) area, an 11 per cent increase from one year ago (239) and down by 18 per cent from August 2023 (324). Sales of condo apartments in September came in at 85, increasing by 63 per cent year over year and the same number as in August. In the row/townhouse category, 71 units changed hands last month, up 48 per cent from one year ago and down eight per cent from August.

Active listings of single-family homes were 1,173 in September, down from 1,417 one year ago. VIREB’s inventory of condo apartments was 305 last month, down from 332 listings in September 2022. There were 239 row/townhouses for sale last month compared to 295 one year ago.

“September looked like a relatively typical fall market but was somewhat slower than expected, so higher interest rates could be catching up with us,” says Kelly O’Dwyer, 2023 Chair. “Potential buyers seem to be holding out for more favourable rates and conditions.”

O’Dwyer feels that the sellers’ market VIREB experienced for the past few years has transitioned to a balanced market and appears to be moving to one that favours buyers. Sellers should consider adjusting their expectations if they hope to sell their home in a reasonable amount of time.

Regardless of market conditions, connecting with a local REALTOR® can help smooth the way to a successful real estate transaction. They have specialized knowledge of their communities and will help you develop a winning strategy for buying or selling a home.

For more information and full update, check out the following resources on REALTOR Link®.

SEPTEMBER 2023 Statistics Package

 Our SEPTEMBER 2023 Market Update is provided above and available on YouTube; it summarizes our housing market in about two minutes.

Please note: The Vancouver Island Real Estate Board (VIREB) transitioned to a new MLS® System in July 2020 and now uses a significantly different data model, which has affected our categories and terminology. For the boardsupplied graphs, single-family is now referred to as single-family detached, apartment as condo apartment, and townhouse as row/townhouse, which now includes patio homes. However, when reporting HPI numbers, VIREB still refers to single-family, apartment, and townhouse in the media release.