2008 FVREB Stats Review
(Surrey, BC) – December’s sales statistics from the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board’s Multiple Listing Service (MLS®) reflect the real estate story of 2008: change. Sales of all property types for the year declined 30 per cent in the Fraser Valley; however, sales for the month were down almost 50 per cent compared to December 2007 – punctuating how the move to a buyers’ real estate market, similar to changes overall in the economy, took place in the second half of 2008.
Residential benchmark prices, the value of a ‘typical’ Fraser Valley detached home as determined by the MLSLink® Housing Price Index (HPI)*, decreased 6.5 per cent this year, with December showing the seventh consecutive monthly decline. The benchmark price was $496,391 in December 2007 compared to $464,189 last month. That price has decreased 9.7 per cent since May 2008 when it was $513,798.
“Prices could not have continued to increase at the pace they were over the past six years,” says Kelvin Neufeld, President of the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board. “The change in the real estate cycle has created tremendous opportunities for consumers right now and they’re starting to recognize that fact.
“Fraser Valley REALTORS® were already seeing home sales in early December surpass those of November, signaling that buyers recognize the current advantages of price reductions combined with historically low interest rates and inventory at record levels.”