It is not foreign buyers but “bully bids” from frustrated locals competing for a record-low inventory that are driving Victoria home prices higher, according to real estate agents and analysts.
“Foreign buyers probably make up less than 5 per cent of the housing market here,” said Royal LePage Victoria broker Bill Ethier. He added that most out-of-town buyers are from Metro Vancouver or other parts of the B.C. mainland.
Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps has withdrawn a proposal to slap a 15 per cent buyer tax on housing purchased by non-resident foreign nationals, similar to the tax introduced in Metro Vancouver in August of last year.
Listings on the Multiple Listing Service are about 50 per cent below the 10-year average, reports the Victoria Real Estate Board.
The lack of inventory helped drag detached-house sales down 14 per cent in the first-quarter of this year, compared to the same period in 2016, even as the average price increased 12 per cent to $612,584, according to a Re/Max study.
“We are seeing an increase in bully bids,” said Re/Max Victoria agent Ray Blender, referring to house buyers presenting offers far above the asking price on some properties. “I have seen buyers bidding $80,000, even $150,000 above asking,” Bender said.
