Fraser Valley real estate market offers Buying Opportunity
For Immediate Release: September 3, 2008
(Surrey, BC) – Even with a slight decline in inventory in August, real estate market conditions in the Fraser Valley remained solidly in favour of buyers.
The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board reported 910 sales on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in August, refl ecting a decrease of 48 per cent compared to the 1,763 sales processed during the same month last year. The Board received 2,517 new listings in August, taking the number of active listings to 11,770, a 51 per cent increase compared to the 7,819 listings available during August 2007 however, a 4 per cent decline off July 2008’s record high of 12,299 listings.
Kelvin Neufeld, President of the Board explains, “Although our economy remains fundamentally strong with stable mortgage rates, low unemployment and consistent population growth, our clients took a ‘wait and see’ approach this summer to buying and selling real estate.”
Neufeld says a typical summer slowdown combined with consumer caution has created the best buying conditions in the Fraser Valley in over a decade. “Selection is at record levels. Interest rates remain competitive, while prices have moderated.”
The majority of Fraser Valley communities have seen the average price of single family detached homes fluctuate in a downward trend since February or March 2008, with the average price for a detached home in the Valley showing a six-month decrease of 1.5 per cent.
However year over year, the average price of a Fraser Valley single family detached home continued to show positive gains, going from $526,879 in August 2007 to $541,795 last month – a 2.8 per cent increase.
Townhome average prices remained on par. They averaged $321,955 in August 2008, compared to the same month last year when they averaged $320,930, refl ecting a slight increase of 0.3 per cent. The average price of a Fraser Valley apartment increased by 4.8 per cent in August. In 2007, it was $217,683 compared to $228,218 last month.