After long drought, number of homes for sale in Langley jumps

There was a sizable increase in people listing their homes for sale in the Fraser Valley in May, although prices remained relatively flat in Langley.

“Typically we would see an influx of inventory earlier in the spring sales cycle,” said Narinder Bains, chair of the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board (FVREB). “The series of interest rate hikes during the latter half of 2022 had many sellers and buyers in a holding pattern for most of the year. What we’re seeing now is a recovery and adjustment to the new financing landscape.”

According to statistics released by the FVREB, Langley saw a big increase in new listings, especially for single family homes.

Last month, 255 houses were listed for sale, compared just 136 in April – an 87.5 per cent change.

There were 144 townhouses newly listed for sale in Langley, up 45.5 per cent from the 99 listed for sale in April, and 201 condos were put up for sale, compared to the 152 in April, a 32.2 per cent increase.

Prices, however, remained relatively stable. Having recovered compared to their lows, average prices were close to those of this time last year, while benchmark prices – the average price of a “typical” home – were still down from the massive highs they saw in late 2022 and early 2023.

The benchmark price of a single family home in Langley was $1.57 million, up 2.1 per cent from April, but still 14.5 per cent below the benchmark in May 2022.

For townhouses, the benchmark was $821,000, 12.7 per cent lower than a year ago when they were going for $939,900, and up 1.3 per cent from April’s price.

Condos were going for a benchmark of $584,200, down 8.7 per cent from May 2022’s benchmark price of $640,000, and up just 0.9 per cent from April.

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Sales were higher for all three types of housing, with 111 detached homes selling in May, 93 townhouses, and 149 condos. Only townhouses were down from April, and all three categories were sharply higher than they had been in May 2022.

On the construction side, there are also a significant number of new homes being built around Langley.

In the Township, the most recent data available shows that from January to April, building permits for 233 multi-family units – condos and townhouses – were issued, 150 permits were issued for single family homes, and 114 permits were issued for secondary suites, along with permits for eight mobile homes. In total, 505 housing units could be built.

Last year in the same four-month period, 422 permits were issued.

Langley City does not track statistics in exactly the same way, but by the end of May, its Development Services Department received 32 applications for development, ranging from simple two-lot subdivisions, up to a 12-storey apartment building planned for 204th Street downtown.