Jeff Nield Real Estate

10/20/2026

Last Saturday the Comox Valley chose its councils. This Saturday, October 24, we vote for a provincial government, and most of the rules those councils work under are written in Victoria.

The speculation and vacancy tax that applies in Courtenay, Comox and Cumberland is on the ballot: the NDP would double the domestic rate to 2 per cent, and the Conservatives say they'd leave it alone. So are permit timelines, who gets to decide how dense our neighbourhoods get, and new rules for renters.

Quietly in the mix for older homeowners: the interest rate on deferred property taxes jumped this year, to prime plus 2 per cent, compounded. Deferring a $3,800 tax bill for 10 years now costs about $17,000 in interest, up from about $5,000. The Conservatives would restore the old rate, which would significantly reduce the interest paid.

I've put each party's housing promises side by side, with what they could mean for owners, buyers and renters here. No endorsements, just the platforms and the local context.

Advance voting is open through Wednesday, October 21, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. If you have questions about how any of this touches your property, I'm always happy to talk it through.

Comox Valley Housing & 2026 Election series A week after choosing their councils, Comox Valley voters go back to the polls on Saturday, October 24, this time to elect a provincial government. Premier David Eby called the snap election on September 22, two years ahead of the fixed election date, fram...

10/18/2026

Quick breakdown of voting results and how it may impact housing and development in the area.

Comox Valley 2026 Municipal Election series Courtenay replaced its mayor on Saturday. Manno Theos took 3,870 votes, 44.5 per cent of the mayoral ballot, ahead of two-term mayor Bob Wells at 2,595 and Trish McPhail at 2,185. That result will get most of the attention this week. For housing, though, t...

10/13/2026

At the September 27 Comox candidates' forum, one incumbent said the town has no municipal land left: "We just sold our last piece to Habitat for Humanity." Another said the town has completed an inventory of town-owned land and wants at least one of those sites moving toward permanently affordable housing next term.

Both could be partly true, depending on what's in that inventory. From the public record I couldn't tell which, and it changes what any Comox council could realistically promise on affordable housing.

That's one of several loose ends in a new post where I went through what the 48 people on this fall's Comox Valley ballots have said about housing: campaign announcements, questionnaires, a forum recording, and their own websites and posts. I haven't spoken with any of the candidates for it. It's a scouring of what's already out there, with a link to every quote so you can check it yourself.

A few patterns stood out. At least a dozen Courtenay candidates want faster permit approvals. Incumbents in all three towns talk about growing up, not out. And how Braidwood should run has become a dividing line in Courtenay.

If you know the answer on the Comox land question, or you spot anything in the post that needs correcting or clarifying, please tell me in the comments here. I'll update it.

Comox Valley 2026 Municipal Election series For this post, I went through the public record with the help of AI. I didn’t interview or survey the candidates. Everything below is what the 48 people on this fall’s municipal and regional ballots have said about housing in material anyone can read o...

10/07/2026

On September 30 there were 47 single-family homes for sale in the Town of Comox. On the same date last year there were 22. Ten homes sold there in September, half as many as last September.

Across the Comox Valley the pattern is similar. Prices are about where they were a year ago (the benchmark single-family home is $848,900, up 1%), but more homes are listed, fewer are selling, and the ones that sell are taking 58 days on average, up from 36 in July. The head of the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board says the Island market is shifting toward buyers and points to the two October elections as one reason some households are waiting.

This month's Market Snapshot breaks it down by neighbourhood and property type, with what it means if you're thinking of selling or looking to purchase this fall. If you have a question about your own home or a street you're watching, send me a message.

Data: VIREB September 2026 statistics, released October 1, 2026. As a managing broker I see the listings our advisors take on from the day they go live to the day they sell or come down, and through September more of them crossed the 60-day mark without an accepted offer. The calls I took from advis...

09/17/2026

Property owners across the Comox Valley now help fund the new Comox Valley Housing Authority through the regional district portion of their tax bills. This year's requisition is $880,000, shared by property owners in Courtenay, Cumberland and the three electoral areas. The Town of Comox withdrew from the service for 2026, and the total stayed the same, so the other five areas now cover Comox's former share.

The authority named its first eight-member board this month. Its job is to help non-profits secure land and early design funding so non-market rental projects can compete for federal and provincial money.

In the new post I walk through who pays and why Comox doesn't, what it costs on homes at different values, the maximum the bylaw allows, how the 2025 approval process worked, and a few questions you can bring to candidates before October 17.

If you have questions about what makes up a property tax notice here, send me a message anytime.

Comox Valley 2026 Election Housing Series On September 9, the Comox Valley Regional District (CVRD) named the first board of the Comox Valley Housing Authority. Eight people now oversee a public corporation set up to get more non-market rental housing built in the Comox Valley. (Comox Valley Regiona...

09/15/2026

The benchmark single-family home in the Comox Valley was $845,400 in August, down about one per cent from a year ago, which is roughly $8,500 on a home in the mid-$800,000s.

Prices here have levelled off rather than fallen, and the Valley is still near the top of the mid-Island market. What caught my eye in the August numbers was speed: the homes that sold went in 43 days on average, down from 53 a year ago. Fewer homes are selling, but the well-priced ones are moving faster.

If you have been wondering what your place would actually do in this market, I am glad to walk you through the real comparables, no pressure either way. My new August snapshot breaks it all down.

Read it here:

There’s a house on my street that first went up for sale in June last year, priced well above what the market was paying. It sat through the summer and came off the market in October without selling. This April the owners tried again, still asking more than buyers were willing to pay, then dropped...

09/10/2026

A few years ago my parents came for a visit and stayed in a little house just off Church Street in Comox, walking distance to the marina, the coffee shops, the taphouse, all of it. It made the whole visit easy. When they wanted to come again more recently, there was nothing like it left to book. The only sure bet in Comox now is the aging Port Augusta motel.

Those listings didn't disappear on their own. Since 2025, Courtenay, Comox and Cumberland have all tied short-term rentals to a resident living on the property, and out in the rural areas the CVRD is stricter still. The reason goes back to a number: in 2022 the Courtenay-area rental vacancy rate was 0.6%, when a healthy market runs around 3%. Every place rented to visitors by the night was one a local family couldn't rent by the year.

Did it work? Vacancy is up across B.C. and rents have eased, and the province credits the rules. But no one has published a Comox Valley figure, and new construction moved the market at the same time, so the local answer is far from settled.

I wrote up what all four local governments actually decided, plus the part that lands on your ballot this fall.

08/27/2026

This fall, every council candidate in the Comox Valley is going to be asked what they'd do about homelessness. The numbers behind it may not quite be what you'd expect.

The 2025 count found 218 people without stable housing. Lower than 2023 overall, but more people are sleeping outside, not fewer. And most of those counted have lived here for years. These are our neighbours.

The big government response is the Braidwood supportive housing and shelter, though it won't open until 2028. I went through the count and the BC Housing file on the project and wrote up what stood out, including what the next council can actually control.

The Comox Valley's 2025 homeless count, the Braidwood supportive housing and shelter, and what a 58-page BC Housing file reveals about how it was decided.

08/19/2026

There's a spot on our regular walk along the Courtenay greenway, on McDonald Road, the line between Courtenay and Comox, where a clearing has turned into a nearly finished apartment building over the past couple of years. My wife and I have watched it rise. I don't mind it, a growing town needs the homes. But that lot didn't decide to become apartments on its own. Long before the excavators, someone drew a line on a map, the Official Community Plan, that said growth goes here. All three Valley centres just rewrote those maps ahead of the October election. My new post walks through what that means, and the one question to put to any candidate who knocks on your door. Give it a read, and tell me what's changing in your corner of the Valley.

Comox Valley 2026 Municipal Election series, Post 3 of 10 Several times a week, my wife and I walk a loop along the Courtenay greenway. For the last couple of years, one stretch of it has doubled as a time-lapse. We turn west toward Crown Isle at the north end of McDonald Road, the line ... Read mor...

08/12/2026

Same Courtenay/Comox lot. Same street. A few years ago you could build one house on it. This spring every homeowner found out they could build four units on their lot. Permitted outright, with no rezoning and no public hearing.

Council didn't vote for that, the province mandated it.

That's the story anchoring at least part of the 2026 municipal election. Maybe you want to protect your neighbourhood, or speed up building, or slow it down. Before you decide whether a candidate has your vote, it's worth asking whether what they're promising is still council's call at all.

My new post lays out what Victoria has already decided, what Courtenay, Comox and Cumberland councils still control, and the one question worth asking every candidate who knocks on your door this fall:

"The province has already changed the zoning rules and set housing targets. What does council still control, and what will you do with it?"

Full read here: https://www.jeffnieldrealestate.com/bill-44-comox-valley-local-control/

Municipal elections are October 17. What would you ask a candidate at your door?

Explore the implications of Bill 44 Comox Valley on local zoning rules and housing density in Courtenay, Comox and Cumberland.