The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board issues a monthly statistics paper that gives an overview and dissects real estate activity throughout the Lower Mainland. This includes a summary of MLS activity for the Fraser Valley area in addition to monthly and yearly correlations.
A recent analysis of the Fraser Valley market reveals sales have dropped below the 10-year average for the first time since June 2020. While property sales across the Fraser Valley have fallen by over 35% in April 2022, it still remains the sixth-highest April for the past 10 years. In April, according to the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board, there were 1,637 sales on the MLS, a decline of 36.6% from March and 45.7% compared to April last year.
FVREB President Sandra Benz said, “We would typically see a flurry of activity around this time of the year, however that’s not been the case so far.“ It is still too early to tell whether this slowing of movement in the market will continue for long but, “In an effort to stem inflation worries, the government has moved quickly to implement interest rate hikes,” added FVREB CEO Baldev Gill. In fact, rate levels are already back to levels not seen since 2019. In addition to higher rates, first time home buyers in particular, will have to satisfy much stricter stress test conditions. This all will eventually result in a decrease in demand, which in turn can slow price growth but there is still the inventory problem which is the primary source of housing issues and prices across the Fraser Valley.
April was no stranger to the rising home prices from previous months with the Benchmark price for a Single Family Detached home costing $1,731,000, a 0.2% increase compared to March and +33.8% from April 2021. Townhomes had a benchmark price of $902,500 which increased 1.8% from March and 38.3% compared to last April. Apartment pricing rose 1.0% from March to April and 35.6% compared to April 2021. In April, the average number of days to sell in the Fraser Valley was 16 days for a single-family detached home and 13 days for a townhome or apartment.
In her summary, FVREB President Sandra Benz observes “while it’s still too early to say whether this trend will endure, the slowing of sales combined with an increase in active listings is helping to restore a semblance of balance to the market, which is encouraging for homebuyers.”
Overall, it is important to take your time to learn about all the information the real estate market has to share, like pricing and inventory, in your desired neighborhood. Like they say, ‘knowledge is power’, so take the time to prepare and research the data for the market you are entering and talk with your realtor who can best help you utilize real estate statistics when buying or selling.
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