The average detached house in Greater Victoria sold for $1.3 million last year. Many young families will see that number and give up.

I don't blame 'em. But it's a damned shame.

Not because they can't afford $1.3 million—many of us can’t. The shame is thinking that's the only way to own a home here.
 

Three housing types, three price points
Last year's averages across Greater Victoria:

• Detached homes: $1,305,083
• Townhouses: $833,068
• Condos: $609,519

That's a $700K spread. But it’s not a moral hierarchy, it’s a menu of options. Different families need different things.
 

Real decisions look like this
Take three families with $650K to spend:

Family A buys a 2-bedroom condo in Victoria for $650K. They walk to Mass at St. Andrew’s. No yard, but they're five minutes from Beacon Hill Park.

Family B adds another $250K (borrowing, family help, whatever) and gets a 3-bedroom townhouse in Langford for $760K. Small yard, more space for the kids.

Family C pools money with aging parents—now they're at $950K total. They buy a 4-bedroom detached in Sooke. Three generations under one roof, 40 minutes from downtown.

Which one made the right choice? It depends what problem they're solving.

If you're the cathedral family, that Sooke house is wrong even if you can afford it. If you're managing three generations, the condo won't work no matter how close the church is.
 

Where the sales actually happened
Volume matters because it tells you where families with real money are making real decisions.

Condos led with 2,107 sales:

• Victoria/Victoria West: 952 units at $626K average
• Langford: 336 units at $539K average
• Saanich East: 239 units at $593K average

Townhouses: 824 sales

• Langford: 204 at $760K
• Victoria/Victoria West: 126 at $908K
• Saanich East: 122 at $904K

Detached homes: 3,510 sales

• Saanich East: 633 at $1.44M
• Langford: 489 at $1.10M
• Sooke: 307 at $943K

Those aren't speculators. Families are buying condos and townhouses because they solve actual problems better than a detached house they can't afford.

This market doesn't serve everyone
If you're single-income with no equity and no family help, these numbers don't work. Prices have outpaced wage growth for decades, and cutting out lattes won't close a $400K gap.

But if you have:

• Equity from an existing property
• Two professional incomes with savings
• Multigenerational household income
• Capital from a more expensive market

...then you're choosing between options, not wishing for impossibilities.

The questions that matter
Stop asking "Can we afford a detached house?"

Start asking:

• Do we need a yard or just access to good parks?
• Room for parents now, or proximity to their place?
• Separate bedrooms for each kid, or walkable schools?
• A yard, or less debt and lower maintenance?

Those trade-offs are real. A family that walks one kid to school doesn't need what a family with four homeschooling kids needs.
 

What happened in 2025
Greater Victoria saw 6,441 property sales last year. Prices rose 2-3% across all housing types.

This isn’t a boom or a crash. It’s basically a balanced market
 

If you're trying to figure this out
I work with lots of people combining resources: pooling equity, multigenerational purchases, full-time and part-time and self-employed with years of savings.

If that's you, knowing where families like yours live makes a real difference. The assumption that "family housing" means "detached suburban home" is expensive and often wrong.

In the real world real people make different choices for good reasons.

If you want to talk about what your specific situation makes possible, you know where to find me.