Vancouver Island Real Estate Stats - March 2020

At The Fenton Team we believe it is important to provide both investors, and homeowners, useful information about the Vancouver Island real estate markets. This information should serve as a key pillar in any real estate decision making process, whether it be buying or selling. 

Using data provided by the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board we have broken down what we believe to be key metrics for good real estate decision making on Vancouver Island. We have separated the information into the communities of Port Alberni, Ucluelet, Tofino, Parksville/Qualicum, Courtenay, Campbell River, Nanaimo, and Duncan . The statistics below are for single family homes only, and cover the month of March 2019 and 2020.  

We believe that Median Sale Price best represents the value of a typical house (rather than Average Sale Price). The average days on the market tells us how quickly homes are typically selling if priced correctly. The Sale : List Price ratio tells us how closely homes are selling to their asking price. Finally, comparing the number of homes listed, and the number of homes sold, gives us a picture of supply and demand, which is critical in understanding where the market is at, and where it might be going. 

The statistics are provided below and key interpretations are provided below. If you would like any further interpretation from The Fenton Team’s CEO Chris Fenton on any given statistic, please comment below and he’ll be more than happy to help.

This months Vancouver Island's Real Estate Stats are very interesting and are very much affected by the Covid-19 Pandemic.  I was expecting to see a decrease in new listings and sales however this was not the case entirely.  We did see a drop in sales across the board almost ever community had less sales in March 2020 then in 2019.  Some were just more drastic then others.  However many communities saw a increase in new listings from 2019.    

Port Alberni:  In Port Alberni there was actually a increase in new listings in March 2020 compared to March 2019.  Total new listings went up to 56 from 41 the previous year.  However Sales of Single Family Homes decreased which was 50% last month compared to March of 2019.  Buyers may have lost their down payments in the stock market or something I have been hearing a lot from buyers is "I want to wait to see what happens"  of course there has been lots of speculation if prices will decline.

Ucluelet: Ucluelet follows the same sales trend as Port Alberni.  We can see there was about the same amount of new listings in 2020 compared to 2019 but sales are non existent.  Normally March would be right at the beginning of the tourist season on the West Coast and also the start of our Real Estate buying season.  However this year buyers are clearly more hesitant to purchase on the west coast.  Prices are also at a all time high so affordability mixed with low inventory, throw in the Covid-19 pandemic and you have your perfect storm for a decline in sales.   

Tofino:  The Market in Tofino continues to be sluggish.  Only 2 new listings of single family homes in March and zero sales of single family homes which is the exact same stats as 2019.  Once again Low inventory and high prices are putting a strain on buyers.  

Parksville/Qualicum:  Parksville and Qualicum followed suit with the expected Covid-19 trends.  There was both a decline in New single Family Homes listed and sales in March of 2020.  There was 20 less homes listed in March of 2020 compared to 2019 and the sale of single family homes dropped by 26.19%.  Meanwhile median sale price has increased 10.8%.   

Courtenay: The market in Courtenay was mostly similar to how things looked in Port Alberni.  Courtenay saw a increase in listings although only by 2 new single family home listings this past month compared to 2019 in March.  There was a decline in sales of single family homes of 33.34%.  Another notable figure is the Sale to List Price ratio, which jumped up to 99.1%!  So even though the average home sold was on the market for 86 days buyers are still needing to pay almost asking price.  

Campbell River:  The trend continues in Campbell River with a increase in New listings of single family homes and a decrease in sales of 26.19%.  Median Sale price dropped 1.7% but the average sale price increased by 6.5%.  Sale to list price ratio increased slightly to 98.9% which means supply is still an issue and there is a heavy demand for single family homes.  

Nanaimo:   Nanaimo has seen a similar percent drop in Single Family home sales to Port Alberni.  Sales of Single family homes in Nanaimo dropped 53.78 percent last month compared to the previous year.  Nanaimo was also the only community to have a drop in new listings.  Of the homes that did sell, they were only on the market for 18 days on average and sold at 99.2 of asking price.      

Duncan:   Duncan saw the sales of Single family homes fall by 40% and a increase in New listings by 13.51% last month compared to March of 2020.  Sale to list price ratio remains strong at 99% and days on market dropped to 25.  

By looking at the stats of Vancouver Island it is clear that Covid-19 is having a impact on Single Family home sales.  Although sales are down across the board it remains to be a hot market with homes selling on average at 98.7% of their asking price and only sitting on the market for a average of 38.6 days!  

Port Alberni Stats

Ucluelet Stats

Tofino Stats

Parksville-Qualicum Stats

Courtenay Stats

Campbell River Stats

Nanaimo Stats

Duncan Stats

*The MLS stats are provided by the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board and include all single family homes sold on the MLS market in Port Alberni, Ucluelet, Tofino, Parksville Qualicum Courtenay, Nanaimo and Duncan.