Gray Rothnie - the Black and White on Victoria Real Estate

10/06/2026

🏠 GRAY MATTERS
The Black and White on Real Estate

A LOT HAS CHANGED SINCE 1987.

One number hasn’t.

I was 16 in 1986.

Expo 86. Jimmy Pattison. Bill Vander Zalm. Big hair. Acid wash jeans and BMX bikes. RAD.

B.C. looked a little different.

A year later, the Social Credit government introduced what we now call the Property Transfer Tax.

The formula started at:

1% on the first $200,000
2% above $200,000

At the time, the average Vancouver residence was about $126,000.

So the PTT on an average home was roughly:

$1,261.

And that $200,000 tax threshold?

It’s still there.

Almost 40 years later.

Today, a typical B.C. home is hovering around the million-dollar mark.

A home at about $942,000 generates roughly:

$16,840 in Property Transfer Tax.

In 2018, the NDP government also increased the tax on the residential portion above $3 million to 5%.

But that’s not really the interesting part.

The interesting part is what happened simply because the original brackets barely moved while house prices did.

Inflation did the heavy lifting.

And that’s why the current discussion around B.C. income tax caught my attention.

David Eby’s government has increased the lowest provincial income-tax rate and plans to freeze inflation indexing of the tax brackets from 2027 through 2030.

That sounds fairly harmless.

Until you look at Property Transfer Tax.

We’ve already seen this movie.

Your income rises with inflation.

The tax bracket doesn’t.

You haven’t necessarily become wealthier.

You just have more dollars.

And slowly, more of those dollars get taxed.

There’s a wonderfully polite term for it:

Bracket creep.

THE BLACK AND WHITE

In 1987, $200,000 bought a pretty serious house.

In 2026, it doesn’t.

But the tax bracket never noticed.

Now we’re talking about freezing income-tax brackets while incomes continue to rise.

Different tax.

Same math.

And after nearly 40 years of Property Transfer Tax, we already know how that story can end. It's a slippery slope and I've yet to see this government reduce taxes.

That’s the Black and White.

Rothnie Real Estate Group | RE/MAX Camosun

10/05/2026

🏠 GRAY MATTERS
The Black and White on Real Estate

VICTORIA’S IN A BUYER’S MARKET???

Here’s the Black and White:

I’ve been thinking again...
The September numbers from the Victoria Real Estate Board say we’ve moved into buyer’s-market territory.
That may be true statistically.
But I think there’s a little more to the story.
There were roughly 3,288 active listings across the broader VREB area.
Narrow that to the main Greater Victoria areas and the number drops to about 2,832 active listings.
That’s still a lot of inventory.
But here’s the question:
Where is it?
And maybe more importantly:
What kind of inventory is it?
For single-family homes, there were about 1,379 for sale across the full VREB area, but only about 1,069 in the main Victoria areas.
Take Langford and Colwood out of the count and there are only about 695 single-family homes for sale through much of the traditional Victoria market.
That starts to tell a different story.
────────────
🏢 NOW LET’S LOOK AT CONDOS
There were about 925 condos for sale across the broader market.
Of those, 357 were in Victoria, and 164 were in Downtown Victoria or James Bay.
And of those downtown and James Bay condos:
• 58 had no parking
• 107 were bachelor or one-bedroom units
That is a pretty specific chunk of inventory.
A lot of those downtown units are smaller, some have no parking, and many are the type of properties that made a lot more sense when short-term rentals were part of the equation.
────────────
Meanwhile, what am I actually seeing?
Over the last couple of months, my experience in the core has been quite different.
Good single-family homes and townhouses that are priced properly are still getting a lot of attention.
Some are selling quickly.
Some are still getting multiple offers.
The market certainly isn’t roaring.
Buyers have more choice than they did a few years ago.
But I wouldn’t describe every segment as slow either.
In a lot of areas, brisk is probably a better word.
────────────
So yes...
The overall numbers may say buyer’s market.
But real estate isn’t one market.
It depends on the neighbourhood.
It depends on the property type.
It depends on the price.
And sometimes...
it even depends on the parking spot.
That’s the Black and White.

— Gray Rothnie
Rothnie Real Estate Group | RE/MAX Camosun

Gray Matters: The Black and White on Real Estate

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☕ What’s your go-to local spot? Tag them below!

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Ready for an updated home valuation? Request your free one today!

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An updated, free report just for you!

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✨ This or That? ✨

Would you rather have Open Shelving for a stylish, airy feel or Closed Cabinets for a sleek and clutter-free look?

Drop your pick in the comments! ⬇️✨



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09/24/2026

Home means something different to everyone. 🏡

For some, it’s the people. For others, it’s the neighbourhood, the space, or the little routines that make it yours.

Fill in the blank: Home feels like ______. 💬



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09/23/2026

Something new is in the air.

After more than 25 years in real estate, I’m getting ready for the next chapter — and this one includes working alongside my son, Kyle.

We’ve been busy behind the scenes putting the pieces together. More soon.

Still Victoria. Still real estate. Just evolving.

09/22/2026

Hello, fall! 🍂

Here’s to crisp mornings, changing colours and everything a new season brings.

Happy first day of fall! 🍁



Realtor