Drive by Shooting. In Victoria?

Went out to do some drive by shootings of condo developments in and around Victoria on Saturday. Picture quality may not be the best, weather sucked, but we'll do our best to articulate what we found in our explorations.
Above: Carey Hill Walk. Looks almost complete. Price per sqft is outrageous for a neighbourhood that we consider less than desirable. That said, the development makes good use of its natural advantages and the back corner suites will be very quiet and have a decent view towards Swan Lake and Christmas Hill. Bet they're all sold though.
Above: you can't tell from this photo, but Reflections hasn't had any visible work done to it recently. We go past here several times a week, never see trucks, never see cranes etc. Not surprising considering the ridiculous prices they expect people to pay to live in a glass house on the busiest street in Langford.
Above: McConnell Place. You can see the new building down the street. Not sure if people are living in the front one yet, but looks like the standard Langford condo development of the future. Units for sale at $231K for a small 2 bed (under 700 sqft). Interesting to note that these units original MLS price a year ago were $219K; $12K more or about 5% (that's barely inflation in the construction business and likely less than inflation). Another indicator that the market hasn't jumped like the MSM and Realtors would have us believe?

Above: Latoria Walk development. Not working on Saturday, but plenty of evidence to suggest that the project is well under way. Lots of golf inference in the sales information and signs around. This suggests to me that the marketing is aimed at people relocating to the island for lifestyle, not so much for the people who are already here.
Above: The Strathmore. Looks like the foundation has been semi-poured. Busy street way in front, but central location and easy to jump onto major highways. Don't know too much about this development yet.

Above: Corner of Millstream and HWY 1. The sign in the distance pronounces "Rental Flats" and gives a phone number. I didn't get it, but I assume this is a rental only development and can't find anything online anywhere to gain any info. Nice to see some rental units being built specifically. With purchase prices beyond affordable and rents quickly catching up, I am actually surprised that more real estate investors aren't building these sorts of developments. I know that most new strata's are approved only without rental restrictions as the municipalities use these restrictions to appear like they are addressing housing affordability/rental suite availability issues within a market context. Does it work? Hasn't appeared to as of yet.
Above: This is the Hatley Ridge development. It's advertised in the TC regularly, though it doesn't appear on Vibrant Victoria. Looks like groundbreaking has happened, not a lot of other evidence of work taking place.

Above: Richmond Gate. We live around the corner. We're actually interested in this development as a purchase. Work happens 6 days a week. I wonder what the effects of building in the rain will have on this long term. If you seal in moisture using the new rainscreen 'technology' doesn't this just seal in the rot? Update: went into the sales office to inquire about 1-bed suites. Sold out at $249K. Next suite up, one-bed plus closet called den for an additional $90K. Note, for $90K you get 100 square feet (the den is only about 35 square feet) so the rest of the area is distributed into other rooms.
Saved our favourite for last: Mayfair Walk. 70% sold. Just of the busiest street leading into town. No view. Across the street you have 5 of the seediest houses we have seen in this town. One driveway had a beat up old early 80s Toyota with a bumper sticker that stated: "If you're gonna ride my ass the least you could do is pull my hair." Imagine having your in laws over for dinner and that being the awkward talk of the table. Right beside the Mayfair Hotel, which we are pretty sure doesn't attract the kind of clientele that we would want to have living next to us.

So what does all this mean? We're checking out new developments to try to figure out the justification for the per sqft charges being so out of line with existing property. We can't. The condos we've looked at are all around $200-$220/sqft. These places are all above $250/sqft with the average being closer to $300/sqft. If you move to Langford, chances are you will need two vehicles (bus service sucks from there to town). Of course there are exceptions. But if you do need two cars, you don't get two parking spaces, and there is a definite lack of parking on street in these neighbourhoods.