Cooling Chilliwack real estate market in 2018 continued last month

The cooling real estate market in Chilliwack, the Fraser Valley and the entire province continues in 2018.

But while the 217 home sales in the Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board (CADREB) in October is a significant drop from 353 sales for October 2017, that itself was a record number. Last month’s sales number is closer to the 10-year average of 225.5 sales between 2009 and 2018.

In October, there were sales of 110 single family homes, 55 townhomes and 40 apartments, a drop across the board from a year ago. The sales of single family homes was double that of townhomes locally, while demand for condos is stronger in Metro Vancouver, illustrating a continued demand locally for larger homes in one of the last bastions of relative affordability in the Lower Mainland.

The average price of all homes sold in the CADREB area – which includes Chilliwack, Agassiz, Hope and all places in between – was $479,985 last month up slightly over the average of $466,965 year over year. That average sale price last month, however, was a 72 per cent increase over the $278,967 average five years ago in October 2013.

“Home sales improved from September to October, and while they did get back close to the 10-year average for the month, they nonetheless remained way below last fall’s record levels,” said CADREB president Lori Maier. “The slowdown in sales this year along with a rebound in inventories has returned the market to better balance compared to the sellers’ market of the last couple of years. Accordingly, price growth has slowed markedly.”

• READ MORE: Chilliwack home price increases the highest in B.C. - October 2017

The average single family home last month sold for $618,979, townhome average price was $405,822, and apartment was $254,076.

The number of homes on the market remains high at 1,403, up from just 862 listings a year ago.

The slowdown in sales locally parallels the market across the province, a market expected to continue to cool over the next two years, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

“Shifting market conditions across B.C.’s large urban centres is resulting in movement back towards balanced or even buyers’ market conditions in some cases, which is beginning to flatten price growth or, in some areas, result in price declines,” a CMHC report noted.

• READ MORE: Buyers could take the reins in B.C.’s hot housing market: CMHC

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