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POLL: Have rising prices caused you to give up hope of buying a home?

Do you have a spare 50 grand or so kicking around (have you checked under the couch cushions lately)? If not, owning a home in the red-hot Victoria housing market may be out of reach.
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(Black Press Media file photo)

Do you have a spare 50 grand or so kicking around (have you checked under the couch cushions lately)? If not, owning a home in the red-hot Victoria housing market may be out of reach.

The Victoria Real Estate Board reports March’s benchmark value for a single-family home in the Victoria core is $968,700, a 10 per cent increase from just a year ago. Condo prices in the Victoria core have remained more stable, but the benchmark price is still $531,800.

“Limited supply with overwhelming demand has been the story for the first quarter of 2021,” said Victoria Real Estate Board president David Langlois.

“Supply needs to be addressed by all levels of government and particularly by local governments which control land use policies and development processes. Equally important, governments need to ensure that measures they make to moderate the housing market do not exacerbate the problem by attempting to suppress demand by adding costs or qualification barriers. These sorts of measures raise the overall cost of housing and add even more challenges for first time buyers.”

If those kinds of prices leave you thinking the housing market has left you behind, you’re not alone.

A new survey shows young Canadians are abandoning their dreams of ever owning a home amid soaring real estate costs. Data released April 12 says 36 per cent of adults younger than 40 have given up, according to a Royal Bank of Canada survey of 2,000 Canadian adults.

ALSO READ: 1 in 3 young Canadians have given up on owning a home: poll

“The last year has created both challenges and opportunities for homebuyers,” said RBC home equity financing specialist Amit Sahasrabudhe. “Many Canadians have been taking advantage of reduced spending over the year to build up their savings and get closer to making their dream of owning a home a reality.”

But one local real estate analyst believes the market may be reaching the boiling point.

“I believe that detached prices are facing increasing pressure from strained affordability and don’t have that much more room to run,” said local real estate expert Leo Spalteholz. “If they do run further it puts us into dangerous territory from an affordability standpoint and exposes us to a price correction.”

ALSO READ: Real estate sales surging across Greater Victoria but risks lie ahead

In other words, Spalteholz sees the current real estate market approaching its ceiling, with the return to earth being not necessarily pleasant.

Have you been priced out of the Greater Victoria real estate market? Take our poll and let us know.


 

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