Cooler housing market a relief for buyers and sellers

The pace of Greater Victoria's housing market is returning to a "calmer and more friendly environment" said the president of the Victoria Real Estate Board.
 
Rising interest rates have effectively slowed sales and allowed supply to return to more typical levels. In July, 510 properties were sold, which is down 16.7% from June and 38.9% from July 2021.
 
"The government's recent focus has been on demand-side mechanisms and other market modifiers such as a mandatory three-day cooling off period to start in 2023," VREB President Karen Dinnie-Smyth said in a news release. "A better long-term approach to housing affordability for our future is to address housing supply constraints which will be central to the next round of upward pressure on home prices."