The same kind of downward adjustment in prices happened in other segments of the market, from condos to townhouses to four-plexes.
"These numbers definitely match what we have been hearing from our members," Carol Crabb, president of the Victoria Real Estate Board, said. "Showings have increased, sales are slowly increasing and there is a sense of optimism among area Realtors.
They’re not alone.
Property investors looking to make acquisitions in the bureaucratic borough are striking the same hopeful note as they see sellers lower their expectations in order to shift inventory, which may have been idling on the market for as long as four or six months.
That movement means that investors are now able to broaden their portfolios without slashing cap rate expectations.
Investors on the Lower Mainland spent 2011 waiting for sellers in their own markets to show the same flexibility. They're still waiting on that call.
There, a glut of inventory hasn’t yet led to lower selling prices, with buyers prepared to wait for that price drop rather than rush to buy.
The resulting log jam won’t get shifted, said one veteran mortgage broker, until some of those hopeful sellers give up the dream of attracting one of a large number of well-publicized foreign buyers who helped drive up average selling prices last year.
“Despite the low interest ratesc clients are in no rush to buy,” Morris Briglio, president and senior mortgage consultant with The Mortgage Advantage, said. “There’s simply too much inventory on the market yet sellers are unwilling to lower their prices to meet buyer expectations.”
A more expedient solution may be for homeowners who’ve put their properties on the market for speculative rather than compelling reasons to take them off, he said.
That appears to have happened in Victoria where the number of active listings contines to decrease from a high of 5,094 in July 2011, creating more balance in the market.
"Buyers are still price sensitive and very aware of the market values of homes,” the VREB’s Crabb said. “Sellers need to be aware that average prices trending up or down may not apply to their market area.”
