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Sales slump while average prices drop for Langley houses

Average prices are down across the region for the first time in years
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Sales are still robust by historic standards for Langley homes – but they are now far below the extreme levels of the last two years. (Matthew Claxton/Langley Advance Times)

Average prices for single family homes in Langley have dropped sharply as the number of sales has plunged over the past few months, new data from the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board (FVREB) shows.

In May, 94 detached homes in Langley changed hands, down 50.8 per cent from the 191 houses sold in the same month a year ago, and down 13.8 per cent from the 109 houses sold in April.

The benchmark price – the price the FVREB calculates as the average price of a “typical” local home – was down slightly in May to $1.838 million, a 1.8 per cent decline from the $1.872 million last month.

However, the overall average price was $1.596 million, down from $1.796 million, an 11.2 per cent drop.

The median price of a detached house in Langley was $1.545 million, down 5.8 per cent from the previous month.

A similar pattern, but less extreme, was seen for townhouses and condos.

In May, 80 townhouses sold in Langley, a 45.9 per cent decline from a year before, and off 17.5 per cent from April. For condos, 110 changed hands, down 35.3 per cent from May 2021 and down 8.3 per cent from April.

Townhouse benchmark prices were up 1.2 per cent from April to $946,500, but the average price dropped 4.1 per cent to $907,768.

For condos, the benchmark price was more or less flat at $640,500, down just 0.8 per cent. The average price, at $591,453, was down 2.5 per cent.

Average prices can swing up or down more sharply because of a few sales of high- or low-priced homes.

But until recently, the Langley benchmark and average prices for detached houses had been relatively close together, with the average price usually higher than the benchmark.

The steep declines in sales of homes have brought the local housing market closer to “balance,” according to the FVREB.

“Since March, we’ve seen sales come down with an accompanying increase in inventory, subsequently restoring much-needed balance and cooling our heated market,” said FVREB president Sandra Benz. “While still early, it suggests that as we gradually settle into a post-pandemic sate of work and life, the big pandemic-era drivers – working from home and record low interest rates – may have run their course.”

Dropping average prices and steep declines in sales were seen across the region.

For all types of homes from North Delta to Abbotsford, 1,360 homes were sold in May, a 53.9 per cent drop from a year before.

READ ALSO: From dizzying heights, home sales plunge in Langley

READ ALSO: Needle in a haystack – Less than 1% of homes in B.C. cities listed below $200,000

The average price for housing was down 7.7 per cent in just a month.

The Bank of Canada has been raising interest rates, including a 0.5 per cent increase on June 1, which is increasing borrowing costs for new homeowners and reducing the amount they can spend on a mortgage.

“We’re now starting to see the full effect of rising interest rates on buyers and sellers’ habits,” says Hao Li, a broker with HouseSigma. “These double digit dips in detached home averages in areas like Surrey and Maple Ridge highlight the pullback that’s happening in BC’s market.”

Meanwhile, sales in major cities across Canada are dropping after almost two years of frantic activity that saw both home sales and prices shoot up to never-before-seen levels.

In February 2020, the benchmark and average prices for a single family home in Langley were just over $1 million, townhouses were a little over half a million, and condos were going for just over $400,000.

Starting in the late spring of 2020, the average price of a single family home in the Fraser Valley shot up from just over $1 million to a peak of $1.9 million in February of this year. Langley houses peaked at just under $1.8 million in April.

Since then, the average price has begun a steep decline and is now below $1.7 million.


Have a story tip? Email: matthew.claxton@langleyadvancetimes.com
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Matthew Claxton

About the Author: Matthew Claxton

Raised in Langley, as a journalist today I focus on local politics, crime and homelessness.
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