Residential home sales in the Fraser Valley ended 2011 relatively the same as the year prior with a seasonal decline in December that resulted in a sales level that almost duplicated results in 2010. This was in spite of the fact that there were -9.0% fewer active listing for buyers to choose from in the Fraser Valley market in December this year.
The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board (FVREB) reported that residential property sales through the MLS system in the Fraser Valley declined by -20.5% to 890 sales in December 2011, down from 1,120 sales in November 2011.
This years December sales figure of 890 home sales in the Fraser Valley was on par (-0.6%) with figures from a year ago when there were 895 residential sales in December 2010 but down substantially -29.4% from the 1,260 sales in December 2009.
There were 7,399 total active listing in the Fraser Valley Real Estate market in December 2011, down -9.1% from the 8,139 active listings for the same month a year ago in December 2010.
Fraser Valley Real Estate – FVREB November 2011 home sales down -20.5% (-230 units) to 890 total.
The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board (FVREB) serves the following British Columbia communities:
- North Delta
- Surrey
- White Rock
- Langley
- Abbotsford
- Mission
The following table shows the actual Fraser Valley Real Estate Board (FVREB) total MLS residential sales figures for each month in 2010 along with the 2011 sales figures.
2010-2011 FVREB – Total MLS Residential Sales for Fraser Valley:
| January | 981 | -22.1% |
| February | 1204 | +22.7% |
| March | 1565 | +30.0% |
| April | 1793 | +14.6% |
| May | 1477 | -17.6% |
| June | 1815 | +22.9% |
| July | 1101 | -39.3% |
| August | 997 | -9.4% |
| September | 1044 | +4.7% |
| October | 1014 | -2.9% |
| November | 1084 | +6.9% |
| December | 895 | -17.4% |
| January | 834 | -6.8% |
| February | 1279 | +53.4% |
| March | 1818 | +42.1% |
| April | 1516 | -16.6% |
| May | 1608 | +6.1% |
| June | 1588 | -1.2% |
| July | 1322 | -16.8% |
| August | 1341 | +1.4% |
| September | 1165 | -13.1% |
| October | 1139 | -2.2% |
| November | 1120 | -1.7% |
| December | 890 | -20.5% |
This year home sales in the Fraser Valley declined more than last year on a month-over-month basis from November to December. In 2010, sales in December declined by -17.4% from November. In 2011, the situation was very similar however sales declined slightly more, down -20.5% in December from November.
Home sales across the Fraser Valley are usually susceptible to a seasonal decline at the end of the year; therefore a month-over-month sales decline was expected in December. However, this years -20.5% decrease in December 2011 from November 2011 is more than the -17.4% decrease in 2010 and the -17.2% in 2009 over the same period.
Total active MLS listings in the Fraser Valley declined in December 2011, dropping by -21.9% to 7,399 listings from 9,471 in November 2011.
New residential listings for the month of December in the Fraser Valley real estate market increased by +2.6% to 1,133 in December 2011 compared to 1,104 new listings posted for sale last year in December 2010.
With 890 sales and 7,399 total active listings on the MLS in the Fraser Valley real estate market in December 2011, the sales-to-active listing ratio stood at 12.02%, increasing from 11.83% the previous month, which according to the FVREB indicates that the market is in buyer’s market territory.
In December 2011, the average home price for all properties types in the Fraser Valley increased by +13.7% over the same month last year to $506,393 from $445,401 in December 2010.
In their January 4, 2012 news release, the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board stated that:
In December, the benchmark price of a detached home in the Fraser Valley was $522,998, an increase of 3.3 per cent compared to $506,145 in December 2010 and a decrease of 1.7 per cent compared to November.
For townhouses, the benchmark price in December was $315,330, a decrease of 2.1 per cent compared to the same month last year when it was $322,054 and down 3.8 per cent compared to November. The benchmark price of apartments in December was $237,285, a decrease of 1.2 per cent compared to December 2010 and a decrease of 0.5 per cent compared to November.
Total home sales this year are +4.3% ahead of last year’s figures with a total of 15,529 residential MLS home sales in the Fraser Valley from January to December 2011 compared to 14,891 sales over the same period in 2010.
The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board stated that “Overall, Fraser Valley’s real estate market in 2011 was below the 10‐year average in property sales and above average in the number of new listings received.”
