Nanaimo real estate market as of September, 2021

The sales stats at the end of Sept. 2021 indicate that the Nanaimo housing market is still a strong Seller’s market.  We are still seeing multiple offers in all prices of homes.

The biggest changes year-to-date seem to be that at the end of September 2021, 30 % fewer homes were listed, Nanaimo house prices were up over September 2020 by 31 %, the average sale was 102% of asking price, and unit sales were down by 17 % as compared to September 2020. 

The absorption rate indicates that we are still experiencing a strong Sellers market which was also happening in September 2020. 

This market is continuing to be a challenging market for buyers.  We have very low inventory in single family homes and in the condo/townhouse market.

Nanaimo housing market 

Based on the stats that VIREB (Vancouver Island Real Estate Board) have supplied, I am able to summarize the market as follows:

Below are the types of real estate sold in September 2021 (source VIREB) in Nanaimo:

Property Type    # of sold unit’s        Average price

Single Family            136                        $857,240

Condo (Apt)              38                          $377,266                                    

Condo (Patio)            2                           $505,500

Condo (Townhouse) 22                        $489,463

Lots                                9                        $579,561

For single family homes that sold in Sept. 2021 the average home took 20 days to sale as compared to September 2020 when it took 32 days.

Sales of apartment style condos were down from sales in Sept 2020 but were taking 32 fewer days to sell in Sept 2021 than in Sept 2020.

Sales of townhouses were down compared to unit sales in Sept 2020 and were taking 8 fewer days to sell in Sept 2021 than in Sept 2020.

Sales of patio homes were down as compared to unit sales in Sept 2020 and were taking 9 fewer days to sell in Sept 2021 than in Sept 2020.

Overall, the market in Sept 2021 was up. The biggest change was the increase in average price in all property types year-to-date.

Absorption Rates for single family homes in September 2021 as compared to September 2020.

The above stats are informative but to get a true picture of how the local market is doing we need to calculate absorption rates.  The definition of absorption rates is the number of weeks it takes to sell the current real estate inventory in Nanaimo at the present rate of sales.

Below you will find a comparison between absorption rates this year versus last year.

Absorption rate

September 2021 – 4.71 weeks to sell the inventory that was currently on hand at the end of September

September 2020 – 7.12 weeks to sell the inventory that was currently on hand at the end of September

As a rule of thumb, a Sellers market has less than 3 months of inventory, a balanced market has between 3-6 months of inventory and a Buyer’s market has over 6 months.

The absorption rate indicates that we are still experiencing a strong Seller’s market

A Balanced market is just that; a market where there are a similar number of buyer’s looking to buy real estate as there are sellers hoping to sell.   A Seller’s market on the other hand is a market where supply is less than the demand.  This type of market is a market that can sometimes give a Seller the advantage.

For additional information on the Nanaimo real estate market please give me a call.