Market Update
While all data on this page are from reliable sources and believed to be true, the author or its principal Agent Royal LePage Salt Spring Realty assumes no responsibility or liablility for its accuracy. The opinions expressed on this page are strictly the opinions of the author;  they should not be relied upon.

DATAWIZ©   - Lists of All Listings on Salt Spring Island, including non-MLS.
Victoria & Gulf Islands MLS Stats

Market update - 1st quarter of 2010:

While the market was very quiet during the second half of February and in most of March, in total, the number of sold properties in 2010 to March 31 is at 43. This compares favourably to the dismal market of last winter (15 properties sold in the same period). In larger perspective, in the same period 53 properties sold in 2008, 60 properties in 2007 and 34 in 2006.

Perhaps we need to wait until the end of the year for the following observation but in the residential non-waterfront sector (22 properties sold this year to March 31) the average sale price was $554,250 up from $518,325 for the whole year of 2009. The median sale price also rose in the first quarter of 2010 to $492,500 from $441,000 in 2009 (the entire year).

This could be signalling a shift in the demographics and the nearing of the end of great opportunities in the entry level properties largely enjoyed last year. However, the inventory of current listings is still very high at approximately 420 (all categories) as compared to approximately 320 at the same time in 2008 and approximately 230 listings at the end of March of 2005. This could cause further flurry of price reductions especially of some of the properties that remained priced too high.

How did we do in 2009?

2009 was an interesting year for Real Estate on Salt Spring. Preceded by a quiet period from June 2008 to about April 2009, it developed into a relatively active year. Total sales were 188 properties as compared to 172 in 2008. However, historically, an average "good" year would be about 250 properties sold. The remarkable difference from 2008 is that in 2009 about 65% of all residential non-waterfront detached homes sold under $500,000 as compared to 38% last year. This is of course easily explained. With the unprecedented low interest rates, coupled with lower prices and long amortization periods, many properties once again became relatively affordable. In this category 117 properties sold as compared to 100 in 2008. The problem is that such demographic shift tends to distort the neat science of stats numbers. I.e. the median sale price value for this sector dropped by 20% from last year (the average sale price by 17%). The oceanfront SFD homes look even worse, 36% drop in the median sale price and 46% in the average.

So how much did the market really drop? The general consensus is (when we compare the same property as to what it would sell in 2009 as compared to 2008) that in the under $500k category the prices likely dropped in the 10 - 12% range, in the luxury market 15% - 25%. The least expensive home on the Island sold for $249,000, there were 19 homes that sold for under $350,000.
On the other side of the scale, the most expensive home sold for $2.6 mil (and guess what, it was not a waterfront!), preceded by 3 waterfront properties with sale prices between $1.8mil to 1.85mil. Total of 12 properties sold over $1 mil as compared to 17 last year and 18 in 2007.

The forecast? More than likely year 2010 will bring similar market except with some prospect of gradual recovery together with increased optimism and more certainty as to the state of the worlds' economy. The unknown factor is the possibility of gradual interest rate increase after mid summer and the implementation of the HST even though it will only apply to new homes and subdivided land. The Olympics? In my opinion no net result, up or down.

BMO May 2009 Housing Report

2009 1st Quarter MARKET UPDATE
(Adapted from a Driftwood Newspaper contribution by Tom Navratil)

As Spring slunk its way in 1 month late this year, so did Real Estate on Salt Spring Island fail to bloom on time. There is actually some correlation between the two, warm sunshine motivates us to do things and move ahead.
We saw a significant improvement in sales volume in March from zippo-sales in January and only a few in February but the quietness of the first 2 months of the year spoiled it for the 1st quarter stats - Salt Spring Island reported only 15 sales in the first 3 months of the year. For comparison, in 2008 we sold 52 and in 2007 we sold 59 properties in the same period. 2007 was an above average year overall, 2008 acted like a lion in the first 6 months but finished as the lowest in many years.

Of the 15 properties sold, one was an oceanfront property (sold for $1.1 mil),
10 properties sold under $500,000 and 4 properties sold above $500k but below $650k. This year seems to be shaping up already as the year of sales under $600k.

It seems that April may bring further improvement. As asking prices continue to be reduced and interest rates are historically low, Buyers seem to recognize good values and perhaps a dozen purchases were made in the first half of April already.

The Vancouver Sun reported, "Real estate sales bounce back" (April 3). There were more than 1,000 sales in the Fraser Valley in March, the first time that level has been reached since July of last year. However, the sales were still down from March 2008 by 24%. Similarly in the Vancouver area the sales volume in March jumped up by 53% from February but it is still down from March 2008 by 24%.

The benchmark price of a detached single family dwelling in March 2009 in the Greater Vancouver area (extends from Squamish to South Delta and Pitt Meadows) was $649,342, down about 15% from March 2008.

In Victoria the market also gained momentum in March. Total of 602 properties sold in March through the MLS, up by 49% from February. For comparison, there were 707 sales in March 2008. The Victoria Real Estate Board's report notes that the total sales in March 2009 were higher than the March figures during each year from 1995 to 2001, the last "balanced/buyers'" market we had.

The prices in Victoria are stable. The six-month average price of a detached single family dwelling in Victoria proper was $503,598 (median $500,000). Salt Spring Island's average price in the same category for year 2008 was $623,492 (median $544,500) - this, by the way, is only slightly lower than the six-month values in the upscale areas of Oak Bay or the Highlands.

We are in a balanced with-a-pinch-of-buyers' market.

For the Sellers, keep your listing shining above others - this includes the price, presentation, ease of showing and being clear and of good faith in negotiations when an offer is presented.

For the Buyers, keep and have your Realtor keep an eye on opportunities - new listings, price reductions and even sales to be able to compare values. When you find something, act promptly and in good faith - there are no giveaways in the market, there are only good values, better values and lesser values. Yes, it sure is OK trying a lower offer if it is in some relation to the market value but "lowballing" recklessly is counterproductive and the majority of Sellers pull away, no matter what their level of motivation is.

The year 2008 (January 9, 2009 Driftwood contribution - By Tom Navratil)

LOOK AT THE YEAR 2008 in REAL ESTATE ON SALT SPRING ISLAND

The supposedly Chinese saying "May you live in interesting times" can sure take on a new meaning! As we dug ourselves out from the Coast-to-Coast white Christmas it is time again to look at the Real Estate Stats on Salt Spring Island and into the Crystal Ball for future trends.

I think everyone that has any interest in the housing market knows that the volume of sales dropped dramatically in 2008 nationwide. On Salt Spring Island there were 172 sales made in 2008. That is about 42% lower than the previous year which, volume-wise, was a better than average year (the average sales volume for the past nine years is 256 properties per year). This is quite similar to what Victoria and Vancouver have been experiencing. The 1st half of 2008 logged about 65% of all sales for the year, after that a wait-and-see e-mail must have gone out amongst all the Buyers since the result was a very slow second half.

But what is quite astounding is that while asking prices dropped significantly, the average and median sale prices on the Island rose equally significantly. In the residential non-waterfront sector, as compared to 2007, both of these values moved up by 16% and 17% respectively while oceanfront properties saw the median sale price move up by 20% on a fairly low volume of 13 oceanfront properties sold. This however has to be viewed with great caution as it relates more to demographics rather than to the notion of "rising" market. We are not in a rising market. Nationally the average sale prices are reported slightly down.

Wondering why your well priced $375,000 home did not sell last year? Well, in 2007, 55 homes sold under $400,000 which represented 32% of all residential non-waterfront properties sold. In 2008 only 13 properties under $400,000 sold representing a mere 13% of the same category sold. So while it is hard to tell what the reasons were, it is easy to see how the odds were stacked.

On the other side of the scale 83% of the 12 oceanfront properties sold for over $1 mil, the highest percentage so far. In the non-waterfront sector 7% of the 100 sold properties were over $1 mil, one percentage point up from last year.

The least expensive detached home in 2008 sold for $305,000 while in 2007 ten homes sold under that price (of which 3 were mobile homes). The least expensive "non-mobile" home in 2007 sold for $260,000. None of the figures in this article include Brinkworthy or townhomes.

The highest price paid for a property on the Island in 2008 was $3,690,000.

Where do we go from here? Opinions vary but the cautiously optimistic camp seems to have the majority. Unless the Seller vs. Buyer standoff becomes a prolong state of affairs we should see some of the sales volume return this year with continuing stability in the sale prices. More than ever the precision in pricing and impeccable presentation of the listed property is of utmost importance if a realistic chance of a sale is sought. And for the Buyer, now, especially with the even lower interest rates, the market offers renewed opportunities. Someone said that the best time to buy Real Estate was ten 10 years ago and today.

2008 to October 3:

Three months later ...(from the last update below), and the number of sold properties increased only to 147 in all categories. It is shaping up to be a year of very low volume.
(On a really busy year the number of properties sold is around 300 and over, on an average year around 250 and in the slowest year since 1999 only 211 properties were sold (in 2005)).

The market has been very quiet in the last three months while many asking prices continued to be reduced to a lot more attractive levels. There seem to be many Buyers ready to buy but taking their time to choose. Some waiting for their properties to sell before making their move.

The sale prices do not seem to be budging. Instead, many Sellers seem to pull their listing off the market or simply do not renew after expiry. This could be a start of a phase of the market where the market stabilizes and does not progress further in the favour of the Buyer. It may be that the high number of listings has peaked.

There is no question, there are some good values out there without the pressure on the Buyer of having to decide on the spot. Regardless of the worlds' financial turmoil and the upcoming elections here and in the US, it seems, at least in the Gulf Islands, that this is a good time to look and when the right property presents itself, good time to buy.

2008 to June 30:

111 properties sold (as compared to 2007 to June 30: 153, in 2006 to June 30 exactly the same amount as this year: 111)

Of the above 111 properties sold in all categories in 2008 to June 30  63 were residential non-waterfront not counting mobiles on leased pads and/or townhomes (in 2007 the whole year 171, in 2006 the whole year 128 sold)

10 properties sold at or over $1mil so far (in 2007 the whole year 23 sold at or over $ 1mil and in 2006 the whole year 17 properties sold at or over $1mil)

The average sale price of residential non-waterfront in 2008 to June 30 is $616,735 ($531,706 in 2007 and $497,973 in 2006 - i.e. 2008 so far is 16% up from 2007 and 24% up from 2006).

This could however change with the balance of the year as the market is showing signs of resting in the last month or two with a significantly increased inventory in all categories.

In the oceanfront department, 10 waterfront properties sold in 2008 to June 30 with average sale price of $1,695,900 (in 2007 the whole year 19 sold with average sale price of $1,384,184, in 2006 the whole year 14 sold with the average sale price of $1,632,955)

May 2008 - will there be a price correction?

Many clients are asking whether they should wait with Buying a property in the Gulf Islands ("until the prices on Salt Spring Island go down a bit"). Well, Olympics or not, R/E crisis in the US or not, the indications are that we may not see a noticeable"correction" (where sale prices go down). By all counts and patterns we should have had a correction after real estate prices roughly doubled from 2001 to 2005. The "correction" did come, but in form of a much more modest and measured increase in sale prices - about 7% per year since 2005 steadily (non waterfront residential sector), even though in 2006 the volume was extremely low but without negatively effecting the prices. The market continues to be perky in 2008 so far.

Having said that however, there have been many corrections to the ASKING prices in the last 3 years as the market is much more balanced
(rather than the previous Sellers' market) and "smart" pricing is almost a must
if the Sellers want to see their properties sold.

The difference is that in the Gulf Islands and Vancouver Island the market is largely driven by the demand from Buyers that want to retire or live here, not by other causes such as for instance the strong economy driven by oil prices in Alberta.

We could possibly see some correction in Vancouver, Squamish and Whistler after 2010 but I would be surprised if we had one here on the Gulf Islands, and if we did, for sure it would not be a significant one (barring catastrophes of some kind).

January 2008

We indeed ended up the year 2007 with the anticipated high volume of sales (total all categories of 297; for comparison the highest volume ever was 316 in 2003 and the lowest in the last 8 years was in 2006 with only 211 properties sold).

RESIDENTIAL NON_OCEANFRONT: The sale prices (both average and median) in the residential non-waterfront sector rose by 7.36% (average) and 6.77% (median). In 2007 we sold an all time high record number of non-waterfront residential properties, 171, representing 57.6% of all properties sold.

In this non-waterfront residental sector

7 properties sold under $300k
48 properties sold from $300k and $399k
43 properties sold from $400k to $499k
26 properties sold from $500k to $599k
20 properties sold from $600k to $699k
9 properties sold from $700k to $799k
10 properties sold from $800k to $899k
2 properties sold from $900k to $999k
and
6 properties over $1mi


LOTS UNDER 2 ACRES: Vacant land under 2 acres had a rebound in 2007 with volume more than doubling from 2006 to 23 lots (by comparison over 30 lots were sold in 2003 and 2003 each year and only 10 in 2006) with the average sale prices up by 22.2% and the median by 15.8%.

OCEANFRONTS: The average and median sale prices of oceanfront properties had a correction down by 15% after a spectacular jump of 70% last year from 2005, attributable to changing the type of clients seeking to buy ocean front properties. In both years though the samples were relatively low, 14 oceanfront properties sold in 2006 and 19 in 2007 (for comparison 47 in 2001).

OVER $1MIL PROPERTIES: The total number of oceanfront properties (not including Grace Point) sold in 2007, as already mentioned, was 19, 12 of those were over $1 mil (63%, as compared to 71% in 2006). In the residential non-waterfront sector 6 properties sold over $1mil representing 3.5% of all non-waterfront residential properties sold (as compared to 5% the previous year).

OVERALL $ VOLUME: 2007 had the highest ever $volume of properties sold, the total of $160,570,150 of real property changed hands on Salt Spring Island in 2007.

DEMOGRAPHICS: It is hard to pinpoint the Buyer's demographics precisely but in 2007 we were still getting many from Alberta either for retirement now or later. In many parts of Alberta the Real Estate market has slowed down at least in relative terms thus slowing down the Albertans' potential buying capacity. We are getting fewer Buyers from the US (as compared to the before 9/11 era when the the Can $ was in its low to $US), also folks from Vancouver and the Lower Mainland and a large segment of Buyers were local, still many first time Buyers and of course many downsizing.

OUTLOOK: The anticipation for 2008 is the continuing moderate sales price increases with good solid volume, despite of the doom and gloom south of the border.

January 2007

Here are some 2006 numbers:

When considering all properties sold in 2006 the number of properties sold was down 15% from last year (33% from 2004) but the median price virtually unchanged with the average sale price still up 4.62%.

In the residential non-waterfront sector the average and median sale prices were steady all year up at about 3% while the number of sales down 18% from 2005 (down 20% from 2003). Total number of properties sold in 2006 was 211 of which residential non-waterfront were 128 and in the oceanfront sector only 14 properties exchanged ownership (47 in 2003).

Vacant non-waterfront land under 2 acres posted only 10 properties sold in 2006, compared to 33 in 2002, average and median sale prices virtually unchanged.

One remarkable change occurred in the shift of average sale price of oceanfront properties from $970,522 in 2005 to $1,632,955 in 2006 with a similar jump of the median price from $765,000 in 2005 to $1,335,000 in 2006. Quite dramatic and noticeable to say the least. My theory on this is that (apart from the relatively small sample of only 14 properties sold) the money that used to buy waterfronts a few years ago ($600k to $900k) is now buying oceanview properties in the same price range and the waterfront properties are being sought after by the bigger money that still seems to be around.

The most expensive property on Salt Spring sold in 2006 was an oceanfront for $4 mil and the least expensive a lot for $180,000 and yes, a house on a lot for $185,000.

The most expensive non-waterfront residential property was bought for $1.7 mil.

Currently 76% of all listed waterfront properties are listed over $1 mil and in the non-waterfront residential listings 14.6% carry the over $1 mil price tag.

We currently have 143 residential non-waterfront listings as opposed some 85 in January 2004.

Prognosis?

Measured increase seems to be the buzzword; the interest is there the fundamentals support a balanced healthy market but with supply exceeding demand it is fairly certain that it will be a while before we see another significant price run.

July 2006

Reprint of my article in the Driftwood July 19, 2006:

MYTHS AND TRUTHS ABOUT SALT SPRING REAL ESTATE

Last week's Peter Vincent's article "Not quite willing to roll the dice on real estate gamble" was very good; be satisfied with what you have and concentrate on quality of life rather than losing sleep over how much one could make in the Real Estate "gold rush". Just about every article Peter writes is spot on. However, with respect to the comfortable monetary gains we can claim just by owning a property, I could not help thinking about the TV commercial "If life was like that, we would not need a VISA" (or was it MASTERCARD). The trouble is no matter how much our home appreciates, other Real Estate keeps up with it. The only way to substantially better our position would be to downsize or sell our house here and buy in an area of lower prices, such as Nanaimo, the prairies and most parts of the Maritimes to name just a few. Costa Rica does not sound bad either.

So how are we doing on Salt Spring Island with respect to Real Estate? The 3 different sold signs in a relatively short stretch of Fulford Ganges Road on the way out of town would make us think that the market is hot. But many For Sale signs popping up elsewhere may quiet our minds if we were thinking we were missing something.

This is what the stats show: it can be said that the recent market activity upturn started in 2001 and, you may be surprised, technically peaked in the Fall 2003/Spring 2004. In that Fall/Spring period we had the lowest inventory (around total of 80 residential non-waterfront listings), the highest number of sales (316 properties sold in all categories island wide in 2003) and there was Buyer's panic in the air. Today (2006) we have about 150 residential listings (almost double) but, to date, only about 100 properties sold. The market is, at the moment, quiet. If it does not pick up in the second half of the year, it will be the year with the lowest number of sales perhaps in a decade - forecasted drop of 37% from the peak in 2003 (the total number of properties sold).

However, the prices tell a different story. The average sale price of a residential non-waterfront property in 2003 was $355,670, in 2004 $392,425 and in 2005 $484,737. The median prices, though lower, show similar trend. Curiously enough the average sale price of a waterfront property showed a decline of 14% in 2005 from 2004. For the first time this year (the 1st 6 months) since 2001 the average sale price of all properties sold showed a slight decline, though the residential non-waterfront sector posted yet another (relatively insignificant) gain of 2%. This is where Peter may be disappointed with his yield at the end of this year.

Stats are boring but this may perk your attention: to sum up, in the period between 2001 and 2005 the average sale price for non waterfront residential homes on Salt Spring Island indeed rose 96%, waterfront properties 120% and vacant lots under 2 acres, brace yourself, 184%.

Today 78% of all current waterfront listings are over $1 mil, and 38% over 2 mil. The most expensive property listed is $5,995,000, the least expensive is $254,900, there are 4 current residential listings for under $300k, not counting dwellings on leased pads. In the residential non-waterfront home sector the average sale price in 2006 to date was $494,733, the average asking price for these sold properties was $511,936 - now, the average asking price of the remaining unsold residential listings is $642,933, about 26% higher than the former.

No market is a static unchanging process, in fact the opposite is true, every market has cycles and cannot sustain itself in a steady pace indefinitely, up or down. On Salt Spring Island the market, at least for the time being, is running out of steam, many Buyers are unwilling to pay the prices. So they wait or go elsewhere, or never come in the first place as they easily see the (asking) prices on the Internet. The rising interest rates do not help. The Buyers are once again gaining control of the market, it could be said that we are experiencing a transition from Sellers' to balanced to Buyer's market. Once again, more so than in a rapidly rising market the key to successful sale of one's home is precise pricing and flawless presentation. Reports from many other areas of BC (and in parts of the U.S.) indicate similar trends.

Is there a bubble and is it going to burst? The answer is NO, with 99% certainty. There will be (already is) a market adjustment (a correction) but no repeat of the 80s. In the 80's the consumer borrowing interest rates shot up to over 20% p.a. and the Real Estate prices were artificially inflated. Today the market is backed up by strong fundamentals and the interest rates are regulated by the Bank of Canada which closely links it to the economy. The climate, the beauty and the lifestyle of South-western BC, Victoria, Saanich, rural Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast and the Gulf Islands in particular, will continue to attract baby boomers and zoomers from the rest of Canada and from abroad. This creates demand which creates an active market. So in the meantime Peter, keep fighting the bamboo in your garden for we know for sure, your home will appreciate even more, empirically it is indeed just a matter of time.

Tom Navratil, Realtor

January 17, 2006

Update: As compared to 2004, year 2005, with the exception of waterfront properties, posted further gains in the average and median sale prices on the Island.

In the residential non-waterfront sector the average sale price was up by further 24% ($484,737), with a similar gain of 21% in the median sale price ($414,000). Dollar volume up by 25% while number of properties sold up only by 5.41%. 4 year gain in average sale price from the start of the upswing (2001): 96%.

Oceanfront properties took a break last year with 20% fewer properties sold (29), average sale price DOWN 14%, median price almost unchanged and dollar volume down by 35%. However the gain from 2001 remains high at 120% (average sale price).

Vacant land sales were not too active, I suspect for lack of inventory and high building costs. We sold 10 vacant lots on the Island under 2 acres (as opposed to 11 in 2004), with average sale price pushed up 32% ($241,300), Median price up $52% ($244,000), dollar volume by 19%. The total gain by vacant lots since 2001 to 2005 is whopping 184% (average sales price) and by 225% (median sale price). This shows that once upon a time, not long ago lots were quite cheap!

As far as comparing all categories together, the number of all properties sold in 2005 was 247, down 7.5% from 2004; we sold 316 properties in 2003, 297 properties in 2002 and 280 properties in 2001.

As of today, the least expensive home, single family dwelling currently listed is asking $219,000; the most expensive single family non-waterfront home is listed at $1,700,000. The most expensive home on Salt Spring from all categories currently listed is at $5,995,000 (oceanfront).

Prognosis? More stable market in 2006 but with further upward pressure on prices.

For complete stat tabulation please e-mail me - available in .pdf format.

December 01 , 2005

On Salt Spring Island, very busy summer followed by quiet October and November. However, with only 238 properties sold in 2005 to date, it appears that year 2005 will be even lower in terms of number of properties sold than 2004 (with total of 267 properties sold, 2003 recorded 316 properties sold).

In terms of dollar volume, 2004 was the highest ever
(despite the smaller number of properties sold as compared to
several preceding years) at over $125,000,000.
To date 2005 dollar volume is just over $118,000,000.
This could easily exceed the 2004 value by the end of December.

More info once we close year 2005! Full stats available upon request.

February 19, 2005

The market has definitely leveled off. Very quiet Sept/04 to the end of January 2005, with the exception of December where we had a genuine flurry of sale activity.

Looking back at year 2004 on Salt Spring Island, we see that while the residential sector shows modest changes from 2003 to 2004, sales volume slightly down, prices slightly up and dollar volume slightly up, in the waterfront sector the situation is different. Median price up 22% while average price up by 60% (no doubt influenced by a solid number of high priced sales over 1 mil). The number of waterfront properties sold is the same in 2003 and 2004 but the dollar volume is up by whopping 62%.

In the last 3 years the sale prices of residential non-waterfront sector gained 60% while Waterfronts gained 82%, based on median price.

Overall, counting all sold properties in 2003 and 2004, number of properties sold is down in 2004 by 16% while overall dollar volume is up by 10%. Value of properties on Salt Spring, all sectors considered, is up 58% in the last 3 years, based on median price.

In 2003 we sold 10 waterfront properties over $1 mil, same number in 2004. However of these in 2003 none were over $2mil, in 2004 six properties were.

The highest sale price on salt Spring in 2004 was $3,500,000 on Sunset Drive while the lowest was $45,000 for a unit in Brinkworthy (does not include land), the lowest price paid where Real Property is included was $127,000 for a lot.

Outlook? believe the consensus is active but more stable market in 2005, good properties sharply priced continue to sell quickly.

For detailed summary e-mail me

October 29, 2004

The market has been VERY, VERY quiet in the last 6 weeks on Salt Spring island following signs of slowing down throughout the summer. Not surprisingly, as after the last 4 years of significant price increase a consolidation period had to come some time. We believe that it is here. Inventory of rersidential listing is increased, January 2004 we showed 71 listings, as of today we show 145. Even with seasonal adjustment the difference is significant. Good news for Buyers but also Sellers, as most Seller are also Buyers once they sell their property. Please refer to recent newspaper articles one and two

June 1, 2004

"When will the bubble burst?" I am being asked often by clients and curious onlookers of the current Real Estate market. What do I think? I am not sure if there is a bubble to burst as in the eighties but the market may run out of steam soon, to rest for a bit, at least on Salt Spring Island. As of April 30, 2004, the average asking price of a single family detached home on Salt Spring Island was approx. 371,000, sale price $341,000. However, the average asking price of then current listings was $522,000! Great expectations that the market is often not ready to meet. In spite of that, however, there are still good properties to be had at decent prices, however, one has to be patient, or find and recognize a good deal, and often has to be very quick. Intrinsically the gulf islands will continue to be in demand for living as well as recreation, and it is almost certain that we will see continued upward pressure on prices now and in the future.

January 29, 2004

The final numbers for year 2003 are in. How did the market do on Salt Spring Island in 2003? It was up in prices and volume. Some highlights: Average (as well as median) sale price of residential
non-waterfront up 23%, volume up by 20%. Waterfronts - average price up by 30.5%, median 14.5%, volume down 5%. Vacant lots under 2 acres - Average price up by 42% (!!!), median up by 31%, volume down by 3%. This leaves solid gains in average sale prices over 40% over the last 24 months in the residential non-waterfront sector, 37% in waterfronts (but 49% median price).
If you are interested in the entire analysis, please e-mail me.

The outlook?
The majority consensus seems to be that we are in for a bit of a plateau; the last 2 months were very quiet though now with a few more listings coming on stream the activity seems to be starting to perk up again. But who knows, remember places like Whistler where it never seems to stop going up.

June 30, 2003:

The market is not crazy but, in my opinion, it continues to hold its own steam with more and more properties selling at noticable higher prices than "we are used to" even when the recent significant market improvement is taken into consideration. The inventory of listings is shrinking although as of today, we still have approximately 85 non-waterfront residential, 50 non waterfront vacant land and 40 waterfront listings (total 175, this compares to total of almost 400 listings at the end of year 2000, and prior years). Total solds in 2003 to date 151 properties.

Analysis of the sale prices in the 1st 2 quarters of the year show further gains: In addition to the sale price increases last year, the average sale price for residential non-waterfront up 19.73%, median up 21.7%, ask to sale price ratio 97.1%, up 2.21%. Similarly all waterfronts average sale price up 26.75%, median price up 19.02%. Sales volumes, as extrapolated over the rest of the year up 11.94% and up 5.26% respectively.

February 12, 2003:

2002/2003 Prices are significantly up.

In year 2002, as compared to 2001, the average price for residential non-waterfront property up by 16%, median price by 14%. Waterfronts (residential as well as vacant waterfront lots): median price up by 30% but average price only by 5%. Volume slightly down on both counts.

Lots under 2 acres: number of sales up by 22% (33 lots under 2ac sold), average sale price up by 17%, median price up by 36%!!

Lots between 2 - 10 acres, number of sale up by whopping 81%, average sale price up by 14%, median by 15%.

Vacant land over 10 acres: average price up by 60% and a dollar volume by 132%!! Average size of acreages sold in 2002 was 68.19 acres as compared to 25.57ac in 2001. The price per acre rose by 38%, from $9,391 to $13,019 per acre in 2002.

Overall: In all 297 properties changed hands on Salt Spring in 2002, up 6% from 2001 (280) and up from 211 in 2000.

Tabulated 6 year summary available upon request - e-mailed in .pdf format (Acrobat Reader), if interested, please request by e-mail from: Tom Navratil

The market continues to shift to favor Sellers, fewer choices and bargains for Buyers.
But there are still close to 200 listings available (February 12, 2003).
Patience, dilligence and a good Realtor can do a lot.

February 2002

Year 2001 was busy on Salt Spring Island with sales volume substantially higher than previous year. Year 2002 started like that already, busy January. Though there are still lots of listings out there, the better ones and well priced ones disappear rather quickly. More updating coming up soon.

January 5, 2001

Year 2000 preliminary update. Another year is behind us and the preliminary numbers show total sales reported in year 2000 on Salt Spring Island were approx. 220 (subject to revision and adjustments), which would be approx. 12% fewer than in 1999. Yet, the year seemed busier to everyone than ever!

January 31, 2000 - The data are in and it is quite evident that the Real Estate market on Salt Spring Island is indeed in the process of firming up. Total sales on Salt Spring Island in 1999 were 251 properties (homes, lots, acreages, farms, commercial, waterfronts).