Campbell River Real Estate Heats Up!
Real Estate Heats Up in Campbell River!
No doubt you’ve heard about what’s happening to the real estate market in Victoria and Vancouver – multiple offers and headlines reporting sales for a million plus over list price. Campbell River’s property market is heating up too, but rather than taking the stride of a sprinter we have a healthier marathon runner approach. Slow and steady reduction of inventory thus creating a slow and steady upward adjustment of prices. A healthy positive market with legs to continue in that direction for the long term.
The baby boomers are coming to Vancouver Island and Campbell River is holding its head proudly as a favored final destination for active retirees. In 2014, 44% of sales in Campbell River were for retirement purposes. We have the new hospital underway with the roof, siding and windows installed, plus the BC Hydro billion dollar upgrade preparing for 300 trades to arrive and work on the finishing. Both projects are excellent draw cards that see Campbell River providing excellent amenities for the community well into the future.
March 2016 proved to be the distinct turning point for the whole of Vancouver Island. Nanaimo sales were up 26% from March 2015, with a whopping 9 out of every 10 new listings selling. Qualicum/Parksville sales were up 24%, with 7.5 of every 10 new listings selling. Comox sales were up 38%, and Campbell River sales were up 35% with 7.2 of every 10 new listings selling.
If you are buying in Nanaimo good luck as the inventory levels are desperately low and reduced by a further -6.2% from February to March. If Nanaimo closed the door on new listings on March 31st and did not list another property there would be only 1.7 months of inventory remaining to satisfy buyer demand. Qualicum/Parksville is in a similar low inventory situation with only 2.3 months of inventory remaining to satisfy buyer demand.
Welcome to Campbell River and our ability to provide affordable land to build your new 3 bed 2 bath rancher on. The average price of land in Campbell River is $129,900, in Comox $171,000, Qualicum/Parksville $190,000 and Nanaimo $159,900. In March 2016 compared to March 2015, sales of land in Campbell River tripled. Take a drive through Jubilee and Maryland Estates and you’ll see machines digging like crazy. New construction has made a come back and local builders are grinning from ear to ear.
With a great sigh of relief for sellers, the strata market in Campbell River has found its legs again. March 2016 saw apartment sales almost triple and up 160% from March 2015. The sell/list ratio shot to 118% which means we sold more than what was listed that month and the inventory levels reduced by 7%. In 2015, the average days to sell was 156 compared to an average of 63 days to sell in March 2016. The median price of a strata apartment in Campbell River is $129,000, Comox $149,000, Qualicum/Parksville $177,000 and Nanaimo $208,400.
I love a busy market – hoping from one sale to another like a little grasshopper yippee. Thank you for your trust, loyalty and recommendations!
