Last month, the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board processed 1,337 sales on the Multiple Listing Service® compared to 1,102 sales in February of last year. New listings in February totaled 2,610 which added up to 7,864 active listings, up from January’s 7,307 but a decrease of 4 per cent compared to February 2014’s 8,210 active listings.

“It was our busiest February since 2007,” says newly elected Board President Jorda Maisey. “In my community of Langley, the average number of days to sell a detached home is now less than one month and it’s a challenge finding the right product for some of our buyers, however every area is different. To understand the market for your home in your neighbourhood, talk to your REALTOR®.”

A measurement the real estate industry relies on to gauge the health of the housing market is the ratio between sales and active listings. For the Lower Mainland, the balanced range is between 12 and 20 per cent; which means when it’s less than 12 it favours buyers and greater than 20 it favours sellers. The ratio in February for single family detached homes was 26 per cent; townhomes 22 per cent and apartments 12 per cent.

Maisey adds, “Our best seller in the Fraser Valley remains the single family detached home, followed by townhomes in part because almost half our buyers are families with children, but also because these products are so much more affordable in the Fraser Valley. With a typical townhome costing less than $300,000 and interest rates so low, many first-time buyers are finding they can get more for their money here.”

The MLS® HPI benchmark price of a Fraser Valley single family detached home in February was $581,400, an increase of 4.2 per cent compared to February 2014 when it was $558,100.

In February, the benchmark price of townhouses was $297,200, a decrease of 0.6 per cent compared to $298,900 in February 2014. The benchmark price of apartments also decreased year-over-year by 1.8 per cent, going from $193,200 in February 2014 to $189,700 in February 2015.

Across Fraser Valley, the average number of days to sell a single family detached home in February was 41 days, ten days faster than last year. Townhouses on average took 55 days to sell; one day faster than last February, while Fraser Valley apartments sold on average in 70 days, on par with February 2014.

Take a look at the latest Fraser Valley Real Estate Statistics for our local market, by following the link here, and call me to discuss how this information is used for buying and selling homes in your specific neighbourhood. You can reach me at 604-415-9800.