Warmer weather generates activity in Fraser Valley’s housing market
Home sellers and buyers in the Fraser Valley took advantage of the
first warm spell of the year triggering an increase in new listings and
keeping sales steady last month.
The Fraser Valley Real Estate
Board posted 1,616 sales in May, an increase of 13 per cent compared to
April and on par with the 1,608 sales processed on the Board’s Multiple
Listing Service (MLS®) during May 2011. At the same time, the Board
received 3,305 new listings, an increase of 5 per cent compared to April
and 8 per cent more than were received during the same month last year.
The new inventory took the number of active listings in Fraser Valley
to 10,826, an increase of 8 per cent compared to the volume available in
May 2011.
Scott Olson, President of the Board, says “Fraser Valley’s market is
at an even keel. Since February, the ratio of sales compared to the
number of active listings has stayed at 14 or 15 per cent, which means
for every 100 properties available to purchase, 15 sold.
“It’s a
healthy, competitive market. It gives buyers excellent selection and the
time to negotiate, but not too much time. The average number of days to
sell a detached home or a townhome is still only a month and a half and
for condos a little over two months, which is why we’re seeing
benchmark prices in most communities holding steady.”
The
benchmark price* as determined by the MLS® Home Price Index (MLS®HPI) of
a single family detached home in Fraser Valley increased 3.6 per cent
in one year. It went from $528,900 in May 2011 to $548,000 last month.
In May, the MLS®HPI benchmark price of a Fraser Valley
townhouse was $306,800, an increase of 0.8 per cent compared to $304,500
in 2011. The benchmark price of an apartment increased by 0.7 per cent
year-over-year; going from $202,100 in May of last year to $203,600 in
May 2012.
Olson adds, “We encourage buyers and sellers to talk
to their REALTOR® about the difference between benchmark and average
prices to better understand how we establish a recommended list price or
an offer.
“A benchmark is the value of a home with
characteristics “typical” to your neighbourhood, whereas the average is
the dollar volume divided by the number of sales – so, if a significant
number of higher priced homes sell in a given month it will skew the
average high. This happened last spring when a number of communities in
the Lower Mainland experienced higher than normal sales of luxury homes,
which is why we’re still seeing average prices recovering while the
benchmark has gone up.”
*Note: Benchmark prices underwent a
recalculation this month in order to more accurately reflect trends
measured by the MLS® Home Price Index (MLS® HPI.) There were no changes
to the calculation of index values.
The methodology can be viewed in greater detail at:
www.homepriceindex.ca/docs/mls_home_price_index_methodology_en.pdf#View=FitV