Canada's Housing Bubble

Housing sales fell slightly in March, though prices remained stable in Nanaimo.

The Island's second-largest housing market mirrors closely what's happening in the rest of the region in the latest Vancouver Island Real Estate Board's reporting period.

With flat year-over-year average selling prices and with sales volumes down 3%, Nanaimo is stable compared to some of the more active markets within the VIREB region, which takes in the Island north of Malahat Drive.

Looking at the bigger picture, Nanaimo's numbers aren't that far off the VIREB region overall, where average sales prices rose 1% and sales volumes fell 7%.

A total of 115 units changed hands in Nanaimo, down from 118 a year ago. During the same period average sales prices changed less than $1,000 to $368,354, from $367,625. In Parksville and Qualicum Beach, prices rose 3%, despite a 21% drop in unit sales.

Campbell River is also reporting no change in selling prices, with sales volumes down 33% from a year ago. Prices fell 7% in Comox Valley, where unit sales are up 5% and in Port Alberni prices dipped 5% as sales volumes fell 14%.

"It's a fairly steady market," said Jennifer Merrilees, a director for Zone 4 (Nanaimo). Despite uncertainty around the harmonized sales tax "it's not stopping people looking at homes," Merrilees said

Housing will begin to take a back seat to business in the Canadian economy this year, as government stimulus programs wind down and as new mortgage eligibility rules "spill over to the housing market," according to an April 1 forecast by TD Economics.

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