Today, there are only 11 SFH listings on MLS for under $300k. That is 1% of all SFH listings for Greater Victoria. I look at $300k as the ceiling for affordability for an average family earning an average income. With a 25% down payment, the average family would have a mortgage of $225k on a $300k SFH. 25 year amortization and a 5.25% interest rate would yield a monthly payment of $1341. Adding in taxes and utilities, that family would likely be looking at monthly obligations of between $1600 and $1700. Considering these numbers to be 32% of that family's gross income would require $60k to $64k annual income. There is next to nothing available in SFH for the average family in Victoria today!
Listings of SFH with an asking price of greater than $700k continues to increase. There was an increase in SFH listings for all price ranges except SFH less than $300k and SFH between $500k and $600k. There are 157 SFH with an asking price of $1 million or higher available for your MLS viewing pleasure. Enjoy!
Regarding the second trend I'm seeing, there are 39 listings of two bedroom condos for under $200k this week. That is the same quantity as last week. Of note, that is the most listings since I started recording in August of 2006.
There are 22 listings for townhomes under $300k this week. There were 27 sub $300k townhomes on October 14, 2006. Last September and October, Victoria had record levels of active listings. Today, we do not have the number of active listings as we did last September / October, however, we have nearly as many townhomes available for under $300k.
The following chart is simply an update of housing categories I'm personally interested in.
I believe that what we are seeing continues to point to the next year or two being very interesting for the Victoria housing market. It really looks like we are teetering on the edge. Hey, if you're looking for something to do this weekend, check out the following video. It's been mentioned a number of times in the comments. It's the roller coaster ride for the U.S. housing market.
