The region's December performance was a return to balance, housing board says
The Fraser Valley real estate market “came back down to earth” by the end of 2022 due largely to that year’s outsized interest rate hikes, according to the region’s housing industry association.
Data from the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board showed that sales fell by 14.7% monthly and 60.4% annually in December, down to 716 sales during that month. This level was the lowest recorded for the month of December over the last decade, the board said.
The region’s full-year total for 2022 stood at 15,273 sales, which was only a little over half of the record-breaking 27,692 sales seen in 2021. FVREB reported that this was the ninth-lowest annual tally of the past 10 years.
New listings fell by 52.8% monthly and 37.2% annually in December, bringing total active listings for the month to 3,923 units (down by 26.4% from November, but up by 100.5% compared to December 2021).
Full-year new listings decreased by 8.9% annually to 32,442 units, bringing the sales-to-active listings ratio to 18%.
“For some time, buyers and sellers alike have delayed decisions in somewhat of a watch-and-wait mode,” said Sandra Benz, president of the FVREB. “This has dampened sales, as well as supply, since fewer new listings come on to the market.
How expensive are homes in the Fraser Valley?
The FVREB said that the benchmark price of a single-family detached home fell by 2% monthly and 11.3% annually to around $1.377 million. Meanwhile, the benchmark for a townhouse stood at $787,300 (down by 1.5% monthly and down by 1.6% annually), and the benchmark for an apartment was at $504,800 (down by 2.6% monthly and down by 0.4% annually).
“As the market has adjusted to rate hikes, we’re starting to see a resumption of interest among the public,” Benz said. “We expect activity to pick up in the coming months as this pent up supply and demand starts to emerge.”
