House sales warm up in June
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Updated: July 03, 2009 10:17 AM
House sales closed in on a record last month in Greater Victoria.
A total of 946 homes and other properties sold in June, making it one of the top five months in almost 20 years.
Chris Markham, president of the Victoria Real Estate Board said only two months in 2007 and two months in 1991 surpassed last month's sales.
Markham said a number of things accounted for the increase.
"In the first few months of the year, (housing sales) were artificially low, so I think what's happened is people wanted to purchase, but they waited because they thought prices were going to go down."
He said people may have been worried about the effect the economy would have on their jobs, but as the markets improve, people are buying new places to call their own.
The average price of single family homes also increased in June to $588,000 from 573,000 in May.
Markham said the $15,000 difference is due to a 16 per cent decrease in the number of homes on the market. This creates higher demand and in turn, bumps prices up.
There's a good chance housing sales will continue to increase in the next few months as people continue to move in, said Markham.
lweighton@vicnews.com
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