Home Values Fall Throughout Fraser Valley... Except in Langley

DETACHED HOMES

Detached homes in the Fraser Valley are back to where they were in March, with a benchmark value of $1,523,500. This is a slight reduction from the 2024 peak of just over $1.53 million in May, yet this is when interest rates were a half percentage higher. The current benchmark price is -0.4% less than this time last year. The active to listing ratio has held steady just above 11%, which is considered a pretty strong buyers market. If you're selling a detached home right now, you've got to be priced pretty competitively.

Surrey detached home prices had risen to over $1.663 million in July, but abruptly fell to $1.647 million in August, which is -1.2% lower than August 2023. The sales to listing ratio has fallen from just shy of 15% earlier this spring to 9.5%, even weaker than the rest of the Valley. 

Moving east, Detached homes in Langley bounced back up from $1.635 million to $1.647 million, just shy of this year's peak of $1.65 million in May. Although the sales to listing ratio has fallen sharply from 28% back in May, the current 15.7% is much strong than the rest of the region. However, the market does still favour buyers.

Abbotsford's detached homes were also driven down from $1.234 million in July to $1.222 million in August. This is the lowest value we've seen since February. The sales to listing ratio has slowly fallen from 15.5% in May to 11.8% in August, in line with the overall soft Fraser Valley market.

TOWNHOMES

Townhomes in the Fraser Valley fell for the fourth month in a row in August, from $854,000 in April to $846,300. This obviously represents an extremely slow decline, but one that is unexpected considering the usual strength of townhomes in the region, especially with softening interest rates. The sales to listing ratio is in a balanced market territory, with 18.7%, which might explain the rather stagnant values. Keep in mind that back in March, 41% of townhomes were selling in a month.

Surrey's townhomes have witnessed a much sharper decline, pulling down the regional average. After an annual peak at $890,900 in April (the highest prices we've seen since July 2023), the benchmark value has fallen to $872,600. This isn't great news for townhome owners, but it is promising for buyers. The sales to listing ratio of 17.3% represents the weakest supply and demand for sellers since December 2022. 

As prevously mentioned, Townhomes in Langley jumped for the second month in a row. Langley's townhomes have actually been steadily increasing almost every month since February, when the benchmark value was $858,100. The current value is now up to $884,700 - a 3.1% increase in less than half a year. Although the sales to listing ratio certainly isn't the 52-54% that we saw in Spring, the current ratio of 25.5% is still well above the regional average and a strong market for sellers.

Meanwhile, Abbotsford's townhomes fell slightly for the third consecutive month, down from $669,900 in May to $664,500 in August. The sales to listing ratio dropped from 25% in July to 17.5% in August, holding onto a softening balanced market.

APARTMENTS

Fraser Valley's apartments continue to fall for their fourth straigth month. Most of the month over month decreases have been relatively nominal, but the benchmark value saw a more noticable drop in August. In April, the typical Fraser Valley apartment was selling for $555,500, the highest value its been since December 2022 when the market was in freefall. It went down to $551,000 by July over three months, and then dropped a bit more sharply to $546,200. This value is -0.8% this time last year. The sales to listing ratio has fallen to 15.4% - the lowest its been since May 2020!

The benchmark value for apartments in Surrey also declined for the fourth month in a row. The 2024 peak of $551,700 in April was the highest value since July 2023. The value has since fallen to $541,700, which represents a -1.0% drop since August 2023. The sales to listing ratio of 12.2% is among the weakest in region and is also the lowest it has been since May 2020.

Apartments are the one housing type in the Langleys that didn't see an increase in prices. The benchmark value dropped from $618,300 in July to $611,600 in August. The sales to listing ratio, however, is in the balanced market range of 21.2%. 

Abbotsford's apartments also fell from $448,200 in July to $443,100 in August. The sales to listing ratio is also still in a balanced market range at 22.6%. 

CLOSING COMMENTS

Apart from the Langley exception, the market continued to soften throughout the region. The Bank of Canada has been cautious in its interest rate announcements, not wanting to set off another cycle of inflation. However, it appears that the market has weathered these interest rate drops with little fanfare. A third consecutive incremental rate drop of .25% by the Bank of Canada took affect on September 4 and most forecasters are expecting another rate drop for the October 23 scheduled announcement. Some commentators suggest we may see a sharper drop if inflation continues to drop. A steeper reduction in the interest rate would be positive news for current homeowners and sellers.