Home Sales Finally Cooling in the Fraser Valley. But locally softening in market compares to big drops to the West
Article by: Paul Henderson – Black Press
As real estate sales and prices cool in the Lower Mainland’s two largest real estate markets, there has been more of a levelling off in the Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board (CADREB).
While the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board saw a 10 per cent decline in dollar-volume sales in May 2018 compared to May 2017, and the Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board saw a 20 per cent decline, in CADREB – which includes Chilliwack, Agassiz, Hope and all places in between – there was a small two per cent increase.
Unit sales, however, dropped 12.9 per cent in CADREB last month compared to 19.3 per cent in the Fraser Valley and 22.5 per cent in Vancouver.
The discrepancy in those numbers comes from the steady prices year-over-year to the west of Chilliwack, and a 17.7 jump in the average sale price in May locally from $457,956 last year to $538,999 last month.
Province-wide the average sale price of a home in May was down 1.7 per cent from $752,551 to $739,783, pointing to the relative bargain that still exists in the CADREB area.
All of this may continue to cool even further, however, as the numbers point to listings on the rise, up 36 per cent year over year from just 936 last May to 1,277 last month.
And, anecdotally, sellers are finding their homes on the market longer than in recent months and years, and the market is turning away from bidding wars towards price reductions.
All these numbers come from the British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA), which reports overall a 28.7 per cent decrease in sales year over year.
“BC home sales continued to slow in May because of more stringent qualifications for conventional borrowers,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA’s chief economist. “The changes in mortgage policy are taking their toll on housing demand, not only in British Columbia, but across the country by reducing household purchasing power and housing affordability.”
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