Sales increase slightly as inventory hits 10-year low for the month of October - Tips from your local Cloverdale Real Estate Specialists

This report confirms what we have been relaying to our clients, friends and family. The media keeps reporting doom and gloom with prices down 20% or more, but inventory is still so low and with how high prices have been and still are....it is still a good market to sell your home if you have been considering selling. Until the market changes and inventory increases, I don't imagine we will see prices drop much until then. What we are seeing is overpricing coming back down to reality, I think that is more because buyers are aware of the market and since there isn't the same urgency they know they do not need to pay for over priced listings like they would have in the spring. 

Sales increase slightly as inventory hits 10-year low for the month of October

SURREY, BC – The Fraser Valley real estate market remained active through October, with sales breaking slightly higher than the 10-year historical average for the month.p>

The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board processed 1,463 sales of all property types on its Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in October, a decrease of 17.4 per cent compared to the 1,772 sales in October of last year, and a 12.1 per cent increase compared to the 1,305 sales in September 2016.

Of the 1,463 sales processed last month, 389 were townhouses and 400 were apartments, representing a significant portion of October’s market activity. Townhome transactions increased 10.2 per cent when compared to last year, and apartment sales reached even higher levels seeing a 56.3 per cent gain.

“Sales activity was healthy in October, especially in the townhome and apartment categories. With prices beginning to level-off, it appears that buyers are becoming more motivated to explore the Valley’s available inventory,” said Charles Wiebe, Board President.

Last month the total active inventory for the Fraser Valley was 6,035 listings, the lowest level seen for an October in ten years. Active inventory decreased by 6 per cent month-over-month, and decreased 7.7 per cent when compared to October 2015.

The Board received 2,197 new listings in October, an 18.9 per cent decrease from September 2016, and a 1.9 per cent increase compared to October 2015’s 2,155 new listings.

“It seems that there’s no bad time to sell a home in 2016 as demand for Fraser Valley real estate remains strong. Talk to your REALTOR® if you’re looking to make a move before the end of the year, and they can get you where you need to be.”

For the Fraser Valley region, the average number of days to sell a single family detached home in October 2016 was 31 days, compared to 36 days in October 2015.

The MLS® HPI benchmark price of a Fraser Valley single family detached home in October was $872,100, an increase of 34.3 per cent compared to October 2015 when it was $649,200.

The benchmark price of Fraser Valley townhomes in October was $421,300, an increase of 34.3 per cent compared to October 2015’s benchmark price of $313,700. The benchmark price for an apartment in the Fraser Valley increased 25.2 per cent year-over-year, from $203,100 in October 2015 to $254,300 in October of this year.

Full package:
http://www.fvreb.bc.ca/statistics/Package201610.pdf