The crew from You Move Me moving company were busy at a Langford home on Tuesday, just one part of the real estate boom in Greater Victoria.
General Manager Patrick Ellison, said every truck and employee is on deck these days.
“I mean it is amazing. We were busier than we are projected to be. We’re certainly up over last year. We expected to have a big year of growth, you know, pre-COVID,” Ellison said.
And bookings for the company go into the fall.
“Definitely seeing people heading up Island. We’ve heard from people that have shifted jobs or have seen their roles change where, you know, being able to work remote or being able to commute in one day a week,” Ellison said.
At first, the pandemic essentially shut the real estate market down. Then the economy reopened.
“It seemed like kind of July, June-ish July things kind of bro started breaking wide open. And then there was pandemonium,” said mortgage broker Kam Brar, the owner of Auxilium Mortgage Corporation in Langford.
READ MORE: 48% more Victoria properties sold in August compared to same month last year
Historic low-interest rates are fueling the market, making homeownership more attractive for first-time buyers. ”
When people take their actual payment amount and figure it out, they go wow like I’m paying more in rent,” Brar said. The real estate surge is something no one predicted, including the Greater Victoria Real Estate Board. And no one is sure when it will end.
“You know what if I had a crystal ball I’d be sitting on a beach somewhere. I wish I knew,” Brar said.
“My general feeling and what we’re kind of seeing is that we’ll see that generally kind of continue through here. I don’t expect to be slowing down,” Ellison said.
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Mary Griffin
