This section is reserved for timely updates about the real estate market affecting Nanaimo and the surrounding area. Expect to see commentary about how the market is doing and what it's like to be acting within it any given time!

View of The Foothills with Realtor Gerry Thomasen

If you live in the mid-Island and haven't heard of The Lantzville Foothills, it means three things:

  1. You haven't been hiking enough
  2. You're not following local politics
  3. You're not planning your dream home overlooking a phenomenal view

The hiker should know this place as a beautiful system of arbutus groves and mossy lookouts.

If you followed local matters, you'd know that this development (which started and failed under different ownership during the Great Recession) has been a hot-button topic for Lantzville residents and local politics.

And anyone with the capital to build a luxurious home - with the desire to spend a little more on the SITE in order to secure a priceless view - would certainly have heard about The Lantzville…

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Last year's real estate market activity was unprecedented in Nanaimo as it was in Vancouver. Prices increased as much as 13% (single family) in Nanaimo through the year, and average prices in January 2017 were up 30% from the previous January! The numbers of units sold (all residential types) also rose significantly from 2015 to 2016.

This boom appears to have been a result of a strong provincial economy, a weak dollar, population growth, and low inventory levels.

Record-low interest rates also fueled some of this activity. But in October the federal government effectively reduced how much buyers can borrow, so there may be some cooling of demand, or at least of pricing, in 2017 [later edit: Nope].

But regional factors suggest a continued upward…

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