Search Title:

A positive early trend in 2022 as volume of new listing improved significantly | FVR

Fraser Valley home listings surged in January: Real estate board

Tiffany Crawford
The Vancouver Sun

There were 2,135 new listings last month, an increase of 67.1 per cent compared with December.

New home listings were significantly up last month in the Fraser Valley. Photo by Gerry Kahrmann /PNG

Homebuyers with an eye on the Fraser Valley may be in luck as real estate experts say home listings in the region surged in January.

While the valley’s overall property sales cooled compared with December, the volume of new listings “improved significantly,” according to a report Wednesday by the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board.

The board says 1,310 homes sold in January, down 23.7 per cent compared with the year previous and 27.5 per cent lower than December. However, there were 2,135 new listings last month, an increase of 67.1 per cent compared with December.

Total active listings for the month were 2,332, down 44.6 per cent compared with the same month last year, and an increase of 19.2 per over December, according to the board.

In a statement, board president Larry Anderson called the surge in home listings a positive, early trend for 2022. He didn’t say whether a surge in listings could be linked to the catastrophic flooding in the Fraser Valley in November.

“It’s early days yet, but if this trend continues into spring, we could see an easing of the supply demand dynamic in our region. We have a long way to go to replenish our housing stock and bring much-needed balance to the market, but this is a step in the right direction,” Anderson said in a statement Wednesday.

Baldev Gill, the board’s CEO, said a seasonal influx of new homes on the market could start to ease price growth this year.

The benchmark price for a detached home in the Fraser Valley last month was $1,569,300, up 4.6 per cent from December, and up 41.8 per cent from last January.

For a townhome, it was $796,500, up four per cent compared with December and up 37.2 per cent compared with the same month last year. And for apartments, the benchmark price was $574,300, an increase of 4.6 per cent from the month previous, up 30.6 per cent year-over-year.

More to come …

[email protected]

More news, fewer ads, faster load time: Get unlimited, ad-lite access to the Vancouver Sun, the Province, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites for just $14/month or $140/year. Subscribe now through the Vancouver Sun or The Province.

© 2022 Vancouver Sun