Average single family home price reached $518,449 in 2017, which shows a 15.9% growth compared with 2016. The rate of growth is even higher than that of 2016 (14.3%). Average price of all types of properties went up. Although price increase of strata titled homes is not as much as single family homes, it is noticeable that townhome and apartment undergone a much more rapid price raise in 2017 compared with 2016. Please refer to the table below for more detail.
Graphs below show the monthly average price of single family, townhome and apartment between January 2016 and December 2017.
Several new policies that came into play in 2017 explain this trend. 15% foreign buyer tax of Toronto, empty home tax of Vancouver, and discussion of foreign buyer tax of Victoria reduced interest in those three cities with highest housing price. In the meantime, mortgage stress test reduces the maximum buying power by 20%, the Bank of Canada key lending rate has been raised 2 times in 2017 and just increased again in the beginning of 2018, and BC Home Owner Mortgage and Equity Partnership offered by BC Housing assists first time home buyers to buy homes under $750,000. All these changes push demand to lower price range. It can be observed that condo and lower price range single family homes had a more rapid price raise in the second half of 2017.
If the effect of these policies continues in 2018, it is expected that the price increase of townhomes, patio homes and apartments can be even faster. With the new passenger ferry anticipated to begin operation in 2018, working in downtown Vancouver and living in Nanaimo will become more realistic. Money from Vancouver, Victoria and Toronto will continual to stimulate higher end real estate market of Nanaimo, especially ocean view homes and acreages.
If you have any question regarding real estate or would like a non-pressure home evaluation, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
