The glimmer of hope recent months have brought to the B.C. housing market has lost much of its sparkle due to the shadow cast by the arrival of the trade war launched yesterday between Canada and the United States.
As President Donald Trump's tariffs take effect, Casey Edge, the Victoria Residential Builders Association鈥檚 (VRBA) executive director, sayst a trade war will likely throw a rebounding market off track, as costs rise and housing starts diminish.
鈥淭he problem with these tariffs is the uncertainty that's created within the housing market,鈥� said Edge.
鈥淲e import materials like glass and steel from the U.S. $3 billion in appliances, $3.5 billion in glass, hardware $2.2 billion, tile $1 billion. The issue here is if Canada launches countervailing tariffs against the United States, all these prices are going to increase.鈥�
Edge further explained that the provincial government could look into tax cuts to curb potential damage to the housing market, such as property transfer taxes along with GST and development cost charges.
鈥淚f all the government does is put on countervailing tariffs, then yes, housing prices will increase,鈥� said Edge.
鈥淭his will reduce housing starts. If you have unemployment combined with higher housing prices, housing starts will decline, supply will decline, and affordability will decline.鈥�
Despite concerns through the month of February, the cost of housing remains steady, with Victoria Real Estate Board reporting the MLS Home Price Index indicating a 3.7 per cent increase in the cost of a single-family home over the past year, while condominium prices fell by 0.5 per cent over the past year.
鈥淭he combination of slowly growing inventory and slightly increased sales means that our market remains in balance from the start of the year, which creates comfortable conditions for both buyers and sellers,鈥� said Dirk VanderWal, the Victoria Real Estate Board chair.
鈥溙ㄍ錗M裸聊室 two years of steady prices combined with recent favourable interest rates are positive factors for our market. Thus far, 2025 has been a good year to buy and sell.鈥�
Through February a total of 528 properties were sold in the Victoria Real Estate Board (VREB) region, marking a 25.1 per cent increase from January, and a 12.3 per cent increase year over year.
Listings also saw increases from February and last year, with a 9.8 per cent improvement on the number of listings from January and 11.3 per cent from February 2024.
According to VanderWal, for the moment things seem to be going normally.
鈥淲e are following our typical early spring market cycle, which generally speaking peaks in late spring. Hopefully in the upcoming weeks we鈥檒l see more inventories enter the market to meet consumer demand.鈥�
