Sooke keeps growing: plans and sales

MapleLine Magazine: Aug.25, 2010, updated Sept.4/10 << Back to Fall 2010 issue

THE OFFICIAL COMMUNITY PLAN. 210-page Official Community Plan (OCP) was finalized and approved by District of Sooke Council on May 17, 2010. It constitutes a guide for decisions made by Council and committees over the years to come.

Whether the document liberates or constricts may vary in each decision-making instance. But overall the plan methodically developed in great detail by District Planner Gerald Christie aims to maintain residential growth in the town core area so that adjacent rural lands can remain relatively undisturbed and this is done by containing sewer services in a defined area.

The plan intends also to help invigorate town-centre business and tourist activity with a focus on “Water Street” – a road from Sooke Road (Hwy#14) down to the harbour with residential, commercial, retail and tourist attractions along its corridor. Issues such as secondary suites, parking density and greenspace development all fall under the general purview of the OCP.

By one easy measure, population growth continues: Welcome Wagon reports over 25 visits per month to new Sooke-and-area residents. Increasing transportation options is also a key feature of the OCP.

Sooke MLS 2010. The tremulous real estate market of early summer found something of a foothold in July. There was a slight decline in chart-topping inventory levels to 4,477 properties for sale at the end of July and a downward price correction to a still scorching-high average house price of $615,054 that month for the overall Greater Victoria area (down from $649,280 in June). In August the Greater Victoria market softened by $28,000 for a single family home and inventory levels dropped too. None of this should be surprising -- how much higher could the market go in terms of affordability or even attainability?

House prices in Sooke have, since April, maintained their position in the $420,000 range and condo sales have been slow but remained above $200,000. In August 2010, Sooke house prices fell about $9,000 from the previous month to an average of $414,773 and sales volumes sagged below spring-summer levels -- in August there were 19 property sales in Sooke (bundling the totals for houses, condos, townhomes, lots and manufactured homes) falling below the levels seen in July (25 sales), June (31 sales) and May (28 sales).

Our region is in high demand for its relative affordability but the increased demand has been pushing up prices. Developers are playing the money game and following the market trend for buyers who want smaller, more affordable units (ideally under the $525,000 threshold for HST payable); in Sooke there are many developments for condos, townhomes and duplexes including Heronview, Mariner’s Village, Grant Mews and Gatewood Village Mews which fit nicely within the multi-family unit acceptance of the District of Sooke’s high-density goals for the town core.

If the real estate market is to remain stable, price correction over the coming months is inevitable as speculative pricing from the 2007-2009 period subsides to levels that people can attain and afford.

Greater Victoria Real Estate board historical statistics can be found at www.vreb.org .

Links:

>> District of Sooke - Official Community Plan - Mayor Janet Evans and Council; Gerald Christie, Planner

>> Victoria Real Estate Board - MLS statistics

>> Welcome Wagon 80th anniversary - Local Sooke contact: 250-642-2268

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