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FEBRUARY 2024 MARKET UPDATE

NANAIMO, BC – Last month, 254 single-family homes sold in the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board (VIREB) area, up 15 per cent from one year ago and 67 per cent from January 2023. Sales of condo apartments in February came in at 68, increasing by 11 per cent year over year and up 45 per cent from January. In the row/townhouse category, 59 units changed hands last month, an increase of 18 per cent from one year ago and up 48 per cent from the previous month.

Active listings of single-family homes were 915 in February, down from 937 the previous year. VIREB’s inventory of condo apartments was 298 last month, up from 253 one year ago. There were 328 row/townhouses for sale last month compared to 251 in February 2023.

“Board-wide, sales rose significantly from last February, while month over month, increases were in the high double digits,” says Jason Yochim, VIREB Chief Executive Officer. “REALTORS® are reporting that although many buyers are waiting for spring, pent-up demand is high.”

While much media attention has been on interest rates and a hoped-for reduction from the Bank of Canada, some financial institutions are offering excellent rates.

“In fact, five-year fixed rates are between five and seven per cent, and for current clients, some banks are offering rates of less than five per cent for longer terms,” adds Yochim. “We encourage people to speak to a mortgage professional to determine their best option.”

Regardless of market conditions, connecting with a local REALTOR® can help smooth the way to a successful real estate transaction.

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

FEBRUARY 2024 Statistics Package

Our FEBRUARY 2024 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.