Fraser Valley Residential Real Estate: February 2019 Infographic
The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board’s stats are out for February and the first signs of a spring market have emerged. Benchmark home prices are up in many segments, sales increased, average days on market is down across the board and sale price as a percent of list price keeps rising.
Following months of decreases, February marked a turning point as the benchmark price for detached homes and condos rose month-over-month, by 0.5% and 0.2% respectively. The benchmark price of a Fraser Valley townhome decreased 1.2% but this was likely skewed by a 3.4% decrease in South Surrey and White Rock as Langley and Abbotsford both saw increases.
Typical for February, sales rose significantly over January increasing 12% for condos, 24% for townhomes and 42% for detached homes. Total sales in the Fraser Valley are, however, low for this time of year. February’s were only 76% of the 10 year average for the month.
Compared to February last year, active listings increased 25% for detached homes, 113% for townhomes and 166% for condos. This looks dramatic but inventory was so extraordinarily low this time last year that even with this spike in inventory, February still ended at only 87% of the monthly 10 year average. It is likely that these moderate inventory levels and the pickup in sales are putting upward pressure on benchmark prices.
Average days on market dropped significantly across all home types with detached homes selling 11 days faster, townhouses selling 5 days faster and condos selling 4 days faster. Sale price as a percent of original list price is also signalling a more competitive spring market with another month of increases for all home types.
What does this mean for development land in the Fraser Valley? It took some time but residential development land is slowly repricing and sites are beginning to move again as confidence builds, from signs of market equilibrium and signals of a spring market.
Inventory of available development land continues to increase throughout the Fraser Valley but most vendor price expectations remain stuck in the past. If you can sort through the opportunities and identify the seller’s that have a genuine need to sell, there are deals to be had for buyers not hindered by the challenging financing environment.
Check out our curated summary of the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board’s February stats in infographics below.
View the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board’s entire stats package for February 2019 here.
This representation is based in whole or in part on data generated by the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board which assumes no responsibility for its accuracy.