Chilliwack home sales are down for the second straight month as prices continue to rise.
The 363 residential sales in the Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board (CADREB) in March represented a drop of 26.5 per cent from the near-record 494 sales in March 2016. Year-to-date sales totalled 762 units over the first quarter of 2017, down 20.2 per cent from the same period last year.
And at an average sale price of $432,879, that’s a 12.6 per cent increase over the average price sold of $384,356 in March 2016, a record average price for CADREB. Average sale prices have been rising sharply since the start of 2016, surpassing $400,000 for the first time ever in April 2016. As for the drop in sales, it came to no surprise to realtors given just how sales were last spring.
“As expected, home sales activity was down in March 2017 compared to the never before seen heights reached one year ago,” said CADREB president Greg Nord-Leth. “That said, it was still second best month of March on record for sales activity in the region. As such, while year-over-year comparisons may continue to look rather unflattering over the next few months, the current market is actually still very strong."
While sales are down, listings are down even more, which is leading to the continue rise in prices. There were just 840 active listings at the end of March, which compares to 978 at the end of March 2016. The 10-year average for listings for March is more than 1,400.
"Inventories are also still at their lowest level in more than a decade, so the market is still very tight and considerable upward pressure on prices remains in place,” Nord-Leth said.
As prices continue to rise in Chilliwack, the same can be said for all points west.
In the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board, which represents North Delta, Surrey, White Rock, Langley, Abbotsford and Mission, sales, too, dropped by 26.4 per cent in March for an average sales price of $685,313.
The benchmark price of all residential homes in Metro Vancouver is $919,300.
paul.henderson@theprogress.com
@PeeJayAitch