Even in a blended market such as we now have, some homes sell very quickly.  When you look at these quick sales, there is usually something about the home or the location or the price that makes it more appealing to a buyer. Sign up above and be the first to find the best! 

Curious about Price Trends in Victoria?  Click the link to see year by year graphed prices. 

NEWS FLASH  The average sales price for a single family home in Greater Victoria was $609,376, down from $640,553 in March. Median price however rose to $560,000. Total MLS® sales for April 2012 were 586, with 565 of those residential.

Thinking about moving to Victoria?

As baby boomers continue to retire in ever increasing numbers, prices will fluctuate month to month but Victoria is somewhat price protected. There is no denying the incredibly strong pull to this Isalnd Paradise! Call me toll free at 1-877-478-9600 to have Victoria area listings e-mailed to you daily.   

I  offer you leading edge technologies for your upcoming real estate transaction, while at the same time provide you with First Class Service! 

Enjoy the convenience of viewing listings from your smartphone wherever you are! Click HERE to check it out!

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 Wondering how Victoria really stacks up compared to other Canadian cities? MoneySense Magazine ranks us as number 2  in the country! 
http://www.moneysense.ca/2011/03/29/canadas-best-places-to-live-2011/

Lorne's Comment: "Really?  Ottawa-Gatineau? It would be understandibly warmer due to the copious amounts of hot air coming from the Hill, but tell me... would you really rather be skating on the river or golfing in December? And the crime rate for Victoria? Unfair to select only Victoria City when the real picture of Greater Victoria at a population of 320,000 is pretty much crime free rather than where the crime happens with a population of 90,000... seems a bit skewed to me. I have to tell you, we are not moving anytime soon! Greater Victoria is still number 1 with this family. As for putting Winnipeg ahead of Vancouver??? Gotta disagree here too!!!  Oh, and     

In a country as large and diverse as Canada, it’s only natural for comparisons to be drawn between cities. Which is more livable, Edmonton or Halifax? Is Vancouver better than Calgary for raising a family? Which city is best for retirees?

This is what drives us at MoneySense magazine to publish our Canada’s Best Places to Live list. We look at empirical, objective criteria such as housing affordability, incomes, job prospects, crime rates and access to health care. Even weather is taken into account. Information is taken from the Census Metropolitan Areas, Census Agglomeration and Statistics Canada.

We include every community with a population of more than 10,000 people — 180 cities and towns in all. Each one is ranked in more than 20 different categories for a final figure out of a possible 105 points. The scores are close (we go to four decimal places) and no city is perfect. Only two scored higher than 70, and just barely.

We don’t expect everyone to agree with our findings. What makes a city appealing for one person may make it unlivable for another. We’re often asked, “what about the scenery, or the community spirit?” The fact is there are plenty of subjective, intangible criteria that we intentionally leave out of our formulas for the simple reason that they cannot possibly be measured. Our list simply provides a fact-based comparison from which people can make their own decisions on where people would like to live.
Here are the top ten:

#10: Winnipeg, MB
The capital of Manitoba and home to 60% of the province’s population slipped one spot from last year. It can boast of low pollution, great public transit and a thriving cultural scene, but crime is above average and the winters can be brutal. However, access to health care is good and unemployment is low.

#9: Repentigny, QC
Celine Dion’s hometown just outside of Montreal slipped three spots from last year. On the plus side, low real estate prices and even lower crime rates make Repentigny an attractive place to live. The city ranks 7th in new cars on the road (a measure of prosperity) and has an extensive transit system — a good thing considering it ranks 161st in the ability to walk or bike to work.  However, this is balanced out by easy access to health care.

#8: Edmonton, AB
Alberta’s capital cracks the top ten this year, jumping 7 spots thanks to low taxes, high levels of discretionary income and an extensive public transit system. With temperatures sinking lower than 0 degrees C 178 days a year, weather may pose a problem for some. Higher than average housing prices and crime rates also hold the city back from a better score, but scant precipitation, low pollution levels and high household incomes from the recent oil boom balance this out to make Edmonton a great place to live.

#7: Brandon, MB
Manitoba’s second largest city kept its spot this year thanks to a stellar unemployment rate (second only to Estevan, SK), low real estate prices and tax rates and clean air. The city has room to improve in terms of crime and household discretionary income, but this is made up by the low number of rainy days and plenty of access to health care.

#6: Fredericton, NB
The New Brunswick capital has a lot going for it, including the 2nd lowest time required to buy a home (after Timmins, ON), very reasonable real estate prices and low unemployment. While the city is suffers from above-average crime rates and cold, rainy weather, this is balanced out by low taxes and healthy household income levels.

#5: St. Albert, AB
This Edmonton suburb gets top marks for low taxes and high household and discretionary income. Throw in low unemployment, a steadily growing population and above-average access to doctors and health care professionals and you’ve got a very nice place to live. However, St. Albert has room to improve regarding house prices (154th), and you can forget about walking or biking to work (163rd).

#4: Kingston, ON
The former capital of the united Canadas has slipped two places from last year, but only by one point. Kingston ranks 12th for walking or biking to work, and is above average in almost all criteria save for pollution (116th) and the number of new cars on the road (107th). Kingstonians have some of the best access to healthcare in the country, ranking 2nd in doctors per 1000 people and 13th in the percentage of health professionals.

#3.  Burlington, ON
This southern Ontario suburb remains in third spot this year thanks mainly to low taxes and high household and discretionary income. It has room to improve in terms of real estate prices (ranked 157th) but that’s the price to pay for the second lowest overall crime rate in the country after Caledon, ON.

#2: Victoria, B.C.
The temperate B.C. capital has jumped six spots from last year, thanks to low provincial income and sales taxes, low pollution and a steady job market. Plus, it ranks 5th overall for Victorians’ ability to walk or bike to work. While Victoria suffers from high real estate prices (it came in 170th out of 180), it cracked the top ten list for both culture and number of days per year above 0 degrees.

And the winner is …
For the second year in a row, Ottawa-Gatineau takes the top spot in our rankings. What does it have that other cities don’t? In a word, consistency. It does not rank particularly high in any individual category but it comes in above average across the board. It has jobs, accessible doctors, low crime, and household incomes and real estate are not drastically misaligned. There is a wealth of museums and galleries keep the culture-lover occupied, and the hostile winters are balanced out by beautiful summers.  

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Canada’s smartest cities 2010: overall rankings

Is your city one of Canada’s smartest, a place that has what it takes to help you get ahead? Or is it falling behind? Check out how Canada’s major cities stack up, and whether they’re improving (Regina, for instance, has shot up from 17th to fifth in three years) or slipping down the list. While some of the results were to be expected (Victoria is a regular contender for the top spot), others may come as a surprise (Halifax beat Toronto). Those near the top of the Canadian Council on Learning’s annual list do, however, have one thing in common: opportunities for lifelong learning.

 

Community Name	Overall Score		Learning to know	Learning to Do	Learning to live	Learning to Live
Victoria	95		6.2	7.6	7.0	7.6
Saskatoon	90		4.5	6.9	7.1	7.4
Calgary	88		6.0	7.2	5.7	6.8
Ottawa	87		6.2	7.6	5.0	6.5
Regina	84		4.0	6.1	5.8	6.9
Halifax	83		4.1	6.8	4.9	6.5
Guelph, Ont.	83		5.2	7.3	5.6	5.9
Edmonton	83		5.8	7.4	5.8	5.6
Kitchener, Ont.	82		5.6	6.8	5.4	5.9
Toronto	81		6.1	6.9	5.6	5.4
Hamilton	81		5.2	6.7	5.5	5.6
London, Ont.	81		5.5	7.2	5.7	5.4
Winnipeg	81		4.4	7.0	6.1	5.5
St. John’s	80		4.7	6.3	5.0	5.9
Oshawa, Ont.	80		5.3	6.4	5.9	5.5
Mississauga	80		6.0	6.9	5.3	5.4
Brampton, Ont.	80		6.0	6.7	5.3	5.4
St. Catharines, Ont.	80		5.0	6.7	5.4	5.7
Gatineau, Que.	79		4.8	7.0	4.7	5.4
Windsor, Ont.	79		5.6	6.9	5.6	5
Barrie, Ont.	79		5.3	6.3	5.4	5.6
Kelowna, B.C.	79		5.1	5.4	5.7	5.9
Fredericton	78		3.3	6.6	5.3	5.5
Kingston, Ont.	78		4.9	7.3	4.8	4.8
Thunder Bay, Ont.	77		5.0	6.2	5.1	5.2
Vancouver	77		6.1	6.5	4.7	5.1
Charlottetown	75		3.2	6.7	4.3	5.1
Abbotsford, B.C.	75		5.3	5.9	4.8	5
Québec City	74		5.0	6.5	4.8	4.6
Saint John, N.B.	72		3.1	6.8	4.5	4.3
Sudbury, Ont.	72		4.8	5.8	3.8	4.9
Moncton, N.B.	71		2.9	5.8	5.2	4.4
Laval, Que.	71		5.2	6.0	4.6	4.1
Longueuil, Que.	71		5.3	6.1	4.6	4.1
Montréal	70		5.3	6.0	4.5	4
Sherbrooke, Que.	67		4.8	4.6	4.1	4.2
Trois-Rivières, Que.	65		4.6	4.4	3.5	4.2
Saguenay, Que.	63		4.3	4.7	2.8	3.8

 

 

 

Source: Canadian Council on Learning’s 2010 Composite Learning Index

Victoria, British Columbia... what's not to like?!! With it's mild climate producing liquid sunshine in the winter in place of snow, it is becoming the destination of choice for Baby Boomers all over the world.

Victoria is a metropolitan City that has many residents of British descent, but is increasingly attracting buyers world wide. Even with the currency change with our closest neighbor, United States, it is little wonder that American citizens are still flocking to Victoria and buying luxury ocean front condominiums, view properties and ocean front estates. With prices on the rise, Victoria is expensive but not when compared with other top tourist destinations. Check out other international tourist destinations then look again at our prices and I think you will agree that there is a lot of room for increase yet!

Golf? You bet! There are many amazing golf courses in the South Island area. These include the ocean front Victoria Golf and Country Club, Olympic View with its waterfall backdrop on one hole and many others... most open all year long.

If you want a get away, check out one of our luxury hotels. Included are the Empress, Laurel Point and Delta Ocean Pointe all overlooking the inner harbour. Fine dining includes Hunter's Steakhouse, Chandlers on Wharf, The Marina in Oak Bay and Pescatore's Fish House, just to name a few. Attractions include the world renown Butchart Gardens, Royal BC Museum, Royal Wax Museum, Craigdarroch Castle and of course whale watching. This is not a boring one horse town, but you can go for a carrige ride through the streets!

If you are considering a move to the Victoria area, or if you are lucky enough to reside here already, you will find this site and it's newly re-created sister site at www.houseseek.com  will provide you with all the information and resources you require... PLUS if you sign in, you can do your own map searches (Brand new technology!) Thank you for visiting! 
    

Serving Greater Victoria and area.  Call Lorne Tuplin for Langford Real Estate,  

Colwood Real Estate, Metchosin Real Estate, Sidney Real Estate,

  North Saanich Real Estate, Central Saanich Real Estate,

Saanich East Real Estate, Saanich West Real Estate,

 View Royal Real Estate,  Oak Bay Real Estate

Esquimalt Real Estate and Sooke Real Estate. 

Call Lorne Tuplin to buy or sell Victoria Homes,

 Victoria Real Estate, Victoria Condos,

Victoria Area Acreages, and  Victoria Area Waterfront & Water view homes

  RE/MAX Camosun, Victoria, British Columbia