For the fifth consecutive month, the ratio of property sales in the Fraser Valley compared to the number of listings on the market has remained stable. In June, it was 14 per cent – the same as it was in February and April of this year. In March and May of 2012, it was 15 per cent. 

Scott Olson, President of the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board explains, “Our market last month remained consistent. Our sales were down compared to May, however the number of new listings we received dropped as well, which seasonally is typical for June in the Fraser Valley.”

Last month, the Board posted 1,463 sales, a decrease of 9 per cent compared to May and 8 per cent fewer than the 1,588 sales processed on the Board’s Multiple Listing Service (MLS®) during June of 2011.  At the same time, the Board received 2,898 new listings, a decrease of 12 per cent compared to May and an increase of 5 per cent compared to those received during the same month last year. The decrease in new listings pushed the number of active listings down slightly in June – by 1 per cent – compared to the previous month, however still 9 per cent more than were available in June of 2011.

“Although our inventory is trending at historically high levels, sales have remained steady so we’re not seeing significant downward pressure on residential prices overall. 

“There are individual property types and areas with their unique trends, which consumers can ask their local REALTOR® about directly, however across the Fraser Valley in June, both average and benchmark prices, the price of a ‘typical’ home, for detached properties remained on par month-over-month and showed positive gains year-over-year.”  

The composite benchmark price as determined by the MLS® Home Price Index (MLS®HPI) of a single family detached home in Fraser Valley increased 3.6 per cent in one year. It went from $548,000 in June 2011 to $551,000 last month.   

In June, the MLS®HPI composite benchmark price of a Fraser Valley townhouse was $305,000, on par with 2011 and the composite benchmark price of an apartment increased by 0.7 per cent year-over-year; going from $202,100 in June of last year to $203,600 last month.  

Olson adds, “Another market gauge we monitor closely is the average number of days it’s taking to sell properties. In June, it took on average 44 days to sell a detached home in the Fraser Valley and give or take a day this has stayed the same for four months, another sign of stability.”

See the full statistics package for June here.