As mentioned earlier this week, we have recently been busy selling homes, which is in part why I was feeling guilty for neglecting the blog posts…

I thought it was time to make an effort so at the very least I could update the blog with recent activity, so, in no particular order, here are our sales from July of this year (note that some sales are unconditional (firm) sales while some have already closed, we do not move our listings to say “sold” on our website until the sales have closed):

• 5605 Parker Avenue:  Sold for $2,000,000
• 82 Sylvan Lane:  Sold for $735,000
• 333A Stewart Avenue:  Sold for $920,000
• 225 Belleville Street, unit 708:  Sold for $444,000
• 3905A Cadboro Bay Road:  Sold for $2,000,000

Leslee also sold a Bed and Breakfast at 522 Quadra Street for $1,085,000 in July to one of her buyers.

We continue to see activity in all price ranges, despite the doom and gloom about real estate markets being reported of late in the media right across Canada — which as mentioned so many times in the past goes to show that it helps to read the details and not just the headlines in the media.

The numbers from real estate boards across the country certainly indicate a pull back in July, but remember that is a pull back from all time highs in volumes and in some price ranges that weren’t sustainable in the long term — For those eagerly awaiting “bubble” to burst we feel that isn’t likely (there are no guarantees, but not likely), rather we expect a return to a balanced market.

In the near term, we ourselves have been quite busy.

I will get into the rationale behind a balanced market in a blog post later this week.

Thanks for reading, and as always, please contact us for ANY of your real estate needs in Victoria, BC.

Sean

We are very happy to report that we have an unconditional offer in place on our listing of the penthouse at The Aria (amazing views!), which sold last Friday for $1,662,500.  That figure works out to a sale price of $831 per square foot, higher than the $817 achieved by the other penthouse sale at The Aria in November 2009.

This further highlights that although sales volumes were down year/year for July, we continue to see sales even after the “downturn” we have been hearing about in the media.  The main point to keep in mind here is that we feel that sales volumes and prices will start getting back to more sustainable levels.  Yes, that means a pull back in volumes, but it does not likely mean that the end of days is about to rain down on us all either – more about that in a blog post later in the week.

One further note to share while on the topic of The Aria:  Last Friday I arranged to show 2 units in the Aria to a very nice client of mine today, only to receive a call from the listing agent this morning that both had conditional offers in place.  Even more noteworthy is that this particular listing agent is representing the developer (there are a few unsold units that remain), so both of those transactions are subject to HST – so, the buyers are out there, apparently finding value that they are happy with.  That’s three sales in the last three days in The Aria!

Thanks for reading, as always, please contact us for ALL of your real estate needs in Victoria, BC

Sean