Langley real estate market shows signs of spring growth

The real estate market in Langley and its neighbours has picked up, but is still well below long-term averages when it comes to sales, according to statistics from the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board (FVREB).

Across the region in March, sales leaped 72.6 per cent higher than in February, as the spring real estate season began.

However, sales were 39.9 per cent lower than a year ago, and almost 25 per cent below the 10-year average for March.

The slowdown in the market began when the Bank of Canada began to hike interest rates from rock-bottom levels early last year. That led to a rapid rise in mortgage rates.

The head of the FVREB said that March’s increase in home sales might be a turning point, especially after Canada’s central bank decided recently to keep interest rates steady for the time being.

“The pause in rate hikes has helped to restore a much-needed sense of predictability, which is building consumer confidence,” said Narinder Bains, chair of the FVREB. “As a result, we’re starting to see more traffic at open houses along with more multiple offer situations.”

The main issue for the market remains very low supply of homes for sale. People remain reluctant to put up their houses for sale, especially before they’ve found somewhere new to move to, said Bettina Reid, a Langley-area realtor.

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“Pretty much all over the place we’re seeing low inventory,” she said, although it’s better than it was a year ago.

Reid sees things continuing to pick up.

“We do have quite a few people who are going to be listing in April,” said Reid.

Some properties are staying on the market for a long time, as the owners have listed them at higher prices. While they might have gotten a sale a year ago, now it isn’t happening.

“Buyers are really savvy,” Reid said. “They’re not willing to overpay for a property.”

In Langley, 107 houses sold in March, up 94.5 per cent from the previous month, but still down 36.3 per cent from the same month a year ago.

There were 102 townhouse sales, a 78.9 per cent jump from February, and 24.4 per cent lower than year-over-year numbers.

Condos were the strongest-performing type of housing, with 136 changing hands in March, up 147.3 per cent from February, but down 28.4 per cent from the same month in 2022.

Prices are down from last year, and barely budged from last month.

The benchmark price for a detached house in Langley was $1.485 million, up 1.2 per cent from $1.467 million in February. That’s down a whopping 21.2 per cent from the same month a year ago, when houses were selling for about $1.88 million.

A benchmark townhouse sold for $796,400, down 0.6 per cent from February’s $801,000, and down 12.1 per cent year-over-year. Condos were going for $565,300, up 1.3 per cent from February, but still down 12.4 per cent from the same month last year.