Saturday, May 25, 2019 ~ LANGFORD
by Mary P Brooke ~ West Shore Voice News
There was a modestly steady turnout for a promoted open house in the Meridian Avenue area of the Westhills planned community, despite the steady rainfall throughout the afternoon.
There are a few move-in ready homes in this Westhills Nova Lands development located just off West Shore Parkway. Some homes are already occupied.
There is a lot of interest in townhomes for their relative affordability and floorplans options suitable for both active families and older downsizers.
A 4-bedroom, 2.5-bath, 3-level 2,237-sq ft family townhome sells in the $650,000 range while the 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 2-level, 1,350 sq.ft loft townhomes are in the $550,000 range.
Family townhomes feature entry on the rec room/garage level, with main living area on the second level and bedrooms on the top floor. Loft townhomes offer daily living on main, with two additional bedrooms up for guests or use as a home office or storage. Some ground level outdoor space is available with townhomes.
It’s a buyer’s market in Greater Victoria this year. “People are coming prepared, they’ve been to their bank to get prequalified before coming to the showhome,” said Rob Muller, Real Estate Sales & Marketing Manager at the Westhills Nova Lands Show Home show suite today.
In a slow year about 50 homes sell in Westhills, with as many as 100 selling in a robust year. The average year sees about 80 houses and townhomes sell in the master planned community that has a 25-year buildout over its 500 acres in Langford. About 40 new homes are built each year, says Muller.
Housing types in the Westhills buildout include Legacy Fine Homes, Carriage Homes, Modern Homes, smallFootPrint Homes, and townhomes.
Homes over the $800,000 price point have ultimately not been selling well since the CMHC stress test was introduced in January 2018. Even homes with suites that could produce rental income are not as easily favoured at financial lending institutions, says Muller.
For April 2019 the Victoria Real Estate Board statistics show Langford single family homes selling at an average of $760,474 (compared to $885,309 for Greater Victoria overall), with townhomes selling on average at $507,963 (compared to $609,041 for Greater Victoria), and condos at $378,822 in Langford (compared to $472,812 for Greater Victoria).
Two new schools are under development in the Westhills community — a middle school and elementary school on a shared property owned by Sooke School District 62 (SD62) on Constellation Avenue. In 2015, the new Belmont Secondary School opened on Langford Lake Road in Westhills where some community services are operated (including a health clinic) and community activities are held in non-school hours.
Today’s community open house on Meridian Avenue was open to the public including hot food and refreshments on site.