Fraser Valley Residential Real Estate: March 2021 Infographic
The pace of acceleration in the Fraser Valley residential real estate market is staggering! The Real Estate Board’s statistics are out for March and, you guessed it, more all-time record numbers. Sales are through the roof, benchmark prices are on a near-vertical trajectory, and average days on market is as low as it has ever been.
Total sales for the month of March were the highest ever recorded, more than double this time last year and 82% above the 10 year average for March.
HPI Benchmark Prices continue to jump by massive amounts each month. Detached homes saw an average increase of 6.3% over last month putting it 25% over March of last year. Townhomes increased 4.0% from last month and condos rose a similar 3.2%. The largest detached home benchmark price increases could be found in Abbotsford with an enormous 8% jump and Mission was a close second at 7.9%.
Active listings appear to be plummeting relative to the 10 year average but considering the speed at which listings are selling, many listings wouldn’t have been captured in the active listings figure, as it’s the count of listings on the last day of the month. Incidentally, new listings were 160% of the 10 year average for March and prices are still shooting up, while average days on market hit new record lows. There’s clearly no shortage of demand for the new listings coming to market.
Competition remains fierce among home buyers with sale price as a percent of original list price driving higher once again in March. The average detached home sold for 106.3% of the list price. At the peak of 2016 this figure was only 104.7%. Townhomes reached 104.9% and even condos broke through the 100% mark this month.
What does this mean for development land in the Fraser Valley?
Not surprisingly, the rapidly rising home prices have developers justifying higher purchase prices for development land and, simultaneously, the stunning amount of demand for readily developable sites continues to compress deal terms. The days of ample due diligence time and long completions are largely behind us.
Additionally, the condo market has picked up steam over the past 30-45 days and we’re seeing the impact of this on the demand for condo land which, until recently, was lagging behind townhome and single family land.
These extraordinary market conditions also bring with them a spike in the number of unqualified purchasers in the market who aim to put a development property under contract merely to try to assign it before subject removal. If you’re looking to dispose of a site in this hot market, it’s more important than ever to identify the ‘right’ buyer, and it may not be the one that writes the highest offer.
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 March 2021 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.
