Wednesday, October 27, 2021

Victoria Real Estate Statistics and Data

 I have recently been studying the technology behind the real estate industry. One of the newest sites for Victoria BC real estate contains a large set of data to help with analysis on the market.  As a homeowner in the market, I have been curious about the effects of Covid-19 on the Vancouver Island real estate market in general.

My partner and I were amongst the lucky ones who got out of Vancouver prior to the market correct in 2018 and 2020 Coronavirus scare.  Since Jan 2020, a number of people have begun making the transition.

After analyzing the real estate data on this page, I have started crunching the data with R, a statistical computing language. Using Vancouver Island real estate data itself was not sufficient, so I have now expanded the scope of the project to include other statistical data. While the project is in early stages, it appears that there was an acceleration in migration from larger cities to Victoria, BC and surrounding areas.  The Victoria BC real estate price averages seem to show a significant uptick during the same time. A realtor friend had told me that initially, leads dried up during the first months of Covid, then the flood gates seemed to open.

While the initial results are indicative, there is no clear causality relationship established between Covid and rural real estate purchases, only a working theory that some people used Covid as a final nudge to get away from urban areas and secure real estate in a more rural and livable location.

I will continue to update as data becomes available.