File photo.
Although the national average price of a home dropped in March by 10.4 per cent, Vancouver Island saw big increases compared to the year before.
The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) says to buy a home in Victoria, it will cost an average of $658,600, a 14.6 per cent increase from March 2017 when the average price was $574,600.
The rise is even sharper for the rest of Vancouver Island with the average March price being 20.5 per cent higher than last year at $466,700.
The average cost in March 2017 was $387,400.
A Royal LePage survey released Friday shows a 10 per cent jump in year-over-year home prices in Victoria to $655,329 in the first quarter of 2018.
The report breaks down prices by housing type and the median price of a bungalow spiked 13.2 per cent to $724,454 in 2018’s opening quarter.
The average price of a two-storey home increased by 8.7 per cent to $888,122, while condominium prices average $467,127, a jump of 8.6 per cent.
Royal Lepage president and managing broker Bill Ethier said the increase is due to a lack of homes available to be sold in Victoria, which was the trend throughout 2017 as well.
CREA’s March home sales report says home sales were down in Canada by 22.7 per cent compared to the same month last year.
The average price of a home is $491,000.
But if you take out the two most expensive markets of Vancouver and Toronto, the average is $383,000.
Andy Neal
