Photo: rpaterso · CC BY-SA 2.0A home in Oak Bay is worth 94% more than the middle of British Columbia’s towns
In figures: $1,400,000 for the median home in 2021, $720,000 for the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Statistics Canada counted 355 buyers in 2023, paying a median $1,750,000. The 2024 property assessment puts the median residential property at $1,580,000.
Three ways to price a home in Oak Bay
Each source sits beside its own median for British Columbia’s towns; none compares across provinces, which value homes in their own ways. A census value is an owner’s guess at a selling price in May 2021, and prices have moved since.
median, owners’ estimate
- Average
- $1.64M
- Owners
- 5,815
- British Columbia’s towns
- $720K
- The typical Canadian town
- $406K
median sale price
- Average sale
- $1.96M
- ÷ buyers’ income
- 7.3×
- Buyers
- 355
- British Columbia’s towns
- $682K
all residential
- British Columbia’s towns
- $671K
Census 2021 (Statistics Canada); Canadian Housing Statistics Program, tables 46-10-0099 and 46-10-0093; Québec rôle d’évaluation foncière 2026 (MAMH).
On the assessment roll, Oak Bay’s houses sit at 2.2 times British Columbia’s towns
Detached houses account for 76% of the 6,365 properties on Oak Bay’s 2024 roll; condos for 11%.
Median assessment by type, 2024 the tick is the median of British Columbia’s towns
Canadian Housing Statistics Program, table 46-10-0093 (2024): residential properties on the assessment roll, vacant land left out. The ticks are the median of British Columbia’s towns with their own figure; assessments compare within a province only.
59% of Oak Bay’s homes predate 1961, against 11% for British Columbia’s towns
Of the 7,810 homes people lived in across Oak Bay at the 2021 census, 63% were single-detached houses.
Homes by period of construction the tick is the median of British Columbia’s towns
Homes by kind
| Oak Bay | British Columbia | Canada | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Condominiums | 12% | 10% | 8% |
| Needing major repairs | 6% | 6% | 6% |
| Too small for the household | 2% | 4% | 3% |
| Households in core housing need | 10% | 10% | 7% |
Census 2021 (Statistics Canada): occupied private dwellings; core housing need as Statistics Canada defines it. Ticks and columns are medians of the towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more.
Permits in Oak Bay ran at 3.9 homes a year per 1,000, where British Columbia’s towns ran at 18.1
From 2018 to 2023, permits in Oak Bay created 239 homes, about 40 a year. Houses dominate the permits, at 93% in single-unit buildings (British Columbia’s towns: 27%).
Most in 2018: 86 new homes
New homes a year per 1,000 homes
4,220 new homes in the 12 months to August 2026, down 5% on the year before
Source area for monthly permits: the Victoria metro area
Statistics Canada, tables 46-10-0087 (building permits by census subdivision, 2018–2023: dwelling units created, new construction and conversions) and 34-10-0292 (monthly, metro areas). Per 1,000: units a year over 2019–2023 against occupied homes in 2021.
Oak Bay against British Columbia’s towns: 94% over the $720,000 median
254 of British Columbia’s towns (2,500 people or more), by median value at the 2021 census, dearest first.
Census 2021, owners’ estimates; towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, no city as a whole, no reserve.
Lower values near Oak Bay: Victoria, Saanich and Esquimalt
The places around Oak Bay at the 2021 census: median and average value, and how many own.
| Town | Median home value | Average | Owners | km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oak Bay | $1.4M | $1.64M | 75% | |
| Victoria | $750K | $821K | 40% | 3.2 |
| Saanich | $930K | $1.01M | 69% | 6.3 |
| Esquimalt | $750K | $776K | 49% | 7 |
| New Songhees 1A | – | – | 65% | 8.5 |
| View Royal | $800K | $848K | 67% | 10.4 |
| Colwood | $800K | $823K | 74% | 13.2 |
Census 2021 values; km.
Questions about property prices in Oak Bay
Is Oak Bay expensive for British Columbia?
More than most: British Columbia’s towns have a median of $720,000, and Oak Bay sits above it.
What is the average house price in Oak Bay?
The average sale was $1,960,000 in 2023, and at the median, buyers paid 7.3 times their income.
How many households in Oak Bay are in core housing need?
10% of Oak Bay’s households, near the 10% of British Columbia’s towns, live in a home that is unaffordable, crowded or in poor repair and can’t afford a better one nearby.
Can I see individual sales or prices by street?
Not here: individual sales sit with provincial registries and aren’t open, so the published figures are town medians and averages.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2021 · Statistics Canada, Canadian Housing Statistics Program · Statistics Canada, building permits (tables 46-10-0087 and 34-10-0292). Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).