The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board is reporting that the region finished 2023 with the lowest annual sales in a decade.
According to a press release the FVRB issued on Jan. 5, high interest rates “kept a lid” on sales and listings in the Fraser Valley last year, “holding year-over-year price growth to low single digits.”
“The Fraser Valley region ended the year with 14,713 sales recorded on its Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®), a decline of four per cent over 2022 and 23 per cent below the 10-year average. New listings in the Fraser Valley were also at a 10-year low, at 29,610, eight per cent below the 10-year average,” the FVRB reported, with the composite benchmark home price in the Fraser Valley at $988,900 at year’s end.
“Back-to-back mid-year interest rate hikes slowed the market despite strong sales and new listings in the spring,” Narinder Bains, FVREB chairman, explained. “This left the market in overall balance for the latter half of the year, albeit at low levels of activity. We anticipate 2024 will bring increased optimism on behalf of buyers and sellers as the Bank of Canada is expected to lower interest rates before mid-year.”
The board’s CEO, Baldev Gill, said 2023 saw buyers and sellers adjusting to “new rate realities, and the impact of those high rates were reflected in the low number of sales in the Fraser Valley.
“However, as rates start to ease, we expect market activity will pick up.”
According to the FVREB, properties on average remained on the market for 41 days, and 40 days for single family detached homes, while townhouses and apartments “moved more quickly at 32 and 33 days respectively.”
The FVREB is an association of 5,126 real estate professionals who live and work in Surrey, North Delta, White Rock, Abbotsford, Langley and Mission.
