Strong summer for Fraser Valley real estate carries through to September

This week at Mitten Real Estate Team we would like to bring you the latest report on the Fraser Valley Housing market, produced by the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board.

SURREY, BC – The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board processed 1,419 sales on its Multiple Listing Service (MLS®) in
September, an increase of 25 per cent compared to the 1,131 sales during the same month last year, and an
increase of 9 per cent compared to sales in August.

The Board’s president, says, “Similar to this past summer, this is the busiest September we’ve had
since 2009 with sales of all property types combined out‐performing the 10‐year average by 13 per cent.
“Residentially, the single family detached home remains the preferred property type. From North Delta to Mission,
sales increased in every Fraser Valley community compared to last year with the price range of $400,000 to
$699,999 garnering almost sixty per cent of our total detached market.”

New listing activity was also brisk in September with the Board’s MLS® receiving 2,758 new listings, an increase of
16 per cent compared to last year, taking the total number of active listings by month‐end to 9,156, a decrease of
7 per cent compared to September 2013.

Werger adds, “An important factor underlying the housing market is consumer confidence and in our region that
confidence has been bolstered by the stability of home prices. Since March, the benchmark price of our three main
residential property types combined has remained flat, increasing by only 0.6 per cent.

“Long‐term, the value of single family detached homes has increased at a faster pace than it has for attached
properties, particularly in areas such as Surrey, White Rock, Langley and Abbotsford where we’ve seen many new
townhome and condo developments. The supply of new inventory has affected the price of resale product.”
The MLS® Home Price Index (MLS® HPI) benchmark price of a detached home in September was $569,800; an
increase of 3.1 per cent compared to September 2013, when it was $552,900. In the last six months, the
benchmark price of a detached home has increased by 1.1 per cent.

In September, the MLS® HPI benchmark price of Fraser Valley townhouses was $299,600; an increase of 1.1 per
cent compared to $296,200 in September of last year, and in the last six months has increased by 0.8 per cent. The
benchmark price of apartments decreased year‐over‐year by 4.7 per cent, going from $203,100 in September 2013
to $193,600 last month, and has decreased by 0.9 per cent in the last six months.

As Always if you have any questions about this article or any other real estate realted questions please feel free to contact us we would be happy to assist you.  We can be contacted through this site or you can call us directly at 604-882-8384.   Please check back next week to see our latest analysis of another local real estate market in the Fraser Valley.

Sincerely,

Doug Bonnie and David Mitten.

(Mitten Real Estate Team.)