House prices in Langley pass $1.4 million

Buying a typical single family home in Langley now costs more than $1.4 million, according to statistics released this week by the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board.

The benchmark price of a detached house hit $1,422,500, up 2.9 per cent from August, and up a whopping 31.9 per cent from the same month last year, when the benchmark was $1,078,100.

As fall began, buyers for homes in Langley were met with higher prices, low inventories of homes for sale, and a growing price divide between the various categories of homes available.

In September, 93 single-family homes sold in Langley, down sharply from the 145 that sold in the same month a year ago, and also down sharply from the 125 sold in August.

Townhouse sales were 115 last month, down from 128 a year ago and from 138 in August.

Condo sales were up year-over-year, with 121 condos selling in Langley in September compared to the year before, when 103 condos sold. Sales were, however, down sharply from August, when 161 condos changed hands in Langley.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the sale price of new homes in Langley, especially detached homes, has shot up sharply.

Also increasing is the gap between types of housing.

Last month, for example, a benchmark house sold for $1.4 million while a townhouse sold for $729,000, a gap of $693,400 between the two types of housing.

Compare that to the same month in 2020, when houses were going for just over $1 million and townhouses were selling for about $576,000. The gap a year ago between the two types of housing was $501,000.

That means a family hoping to sell their townhouse and move into single family housing would have to budget for an extra $192,400 to make the leap to the ownership of a detached home.

Condos and townhouses are also moving apart in price, but not as quickly.

The current gap between condos and townhouses in Langley is $253,000. A year ago, it was $172,800.

That means a condo owner hoping to sell and move into a townhouse is facing an extra $80,200 in costs this September compared to the same month a year ago.

READ ALSO: Number of houses for sale in Langley way down in August

Across the region, sales were down, but only compared to recent red-hot years.

The FVREB saw 1,866 home sales of all types across the region from North Delta to Mission.

“While we’ve seen a solid increase in new listings compared to August, market conditions continue to be challenging for buyers,” said Larry Anderson, president of the FVREB.

He said the increase in homes being put up for sale is not enough to match the continued demand for homes, even as demand reduces somewhat.

Overall, listings of homes for sale across the region were 48.3 per cent lower than they were in the same month a year ago.

Despite the rapid increase in prices, the FVREB’s chief economist foresees no “market correction” – or sudden drop in prices – on the horizon.

The FVREB believes strong demand for housing in the Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley areas will keep prices high.

“Over the next couple of years at least, firm demand will continue to face a relatively under-supplied market, particularly for detached homes, which will become an increasingly scarce commodity, even in the Fraser Valley,” Yu said. “We see this as keeping prices elevated, while shifting the market increasingly towards townhomes and apartments, which is already being developed in multitudes in the Fraser Valley.”