Port Alberni’s real estate boom continued unabated last year, not because of the number of home sold, but the prices they sold at.
Chris Fenton of the Fenton Group says the biggest change was the number of homes that sold above their asking price.
“I think the biggest thing is that the houses are selling above asking price for the first time in history, across the board,” he said.
He says younger people from other island communities are a large part of the boom, pushing up prices.
“What’s drivng the market is we’re seeing the younger generation getting into the market in droves for the first time, and what we’re seeing here in Port Alberni is the vast majority of our buyers are coming from other communities on Vancouver Island, not the mainland or the Interior, but the Island moving to Port Alberni,” he said. “I suspect Vancouver is putting pressure on Victoria and Nanaimo, and then people from those communities are moving towards us.”
Fenton says while Port Alberni saw a 26% increase in average house prices last year, almost 40% of houses sold above their asking price, compared to 10% in 2020.
The average house price in Port Alberni is now more than a half-million dollars, for the first time in history.
Comments