Average detached home prices in Surrey, Langley seeing double-digit drop
While home prices in Metro Vancouver remain sky-high, the price for single-family detached homes in two of the region's fastest-growing markets have seen a significant dip recently, according to one industry group.
HouseSigma uses AI to compare historical listings and estimate current values in real-time. Its latest data compared prices from February and May 17, 2022.
In Surrey, the average price dropped from $1.9 million to $1.59 million – a decrease of 16.3 per cent. In Langley, the price dropped from $1.75 million to $1.5 million – a decrease of 14.3 per cent.
While higher interest rates are said to be cooling the market in B.C. and beyond, HouseSigma agent Hao Li says there is likely something else at play in these two places. As people flocked outside of the city looking for cheaper housing, the population boom drove up prices. Now, Li says the demand has eased.
"One of the reasons that it is going downward even more is because it's been rising much quicker in those two cities compared to other cities of Greater Vancouver for the past two years," he says.
"We can forecast that the price and the sales volume will drop initially. But as time goes on, will get more stabilized."
In markets and moments like this one, Li says, negotiation becomes something both buyers and sellers begin to focus on.
While Surrey and Langley showed the only double-digit drops, the average price for a single-detached home was down everywhere except for Richmond and West Vancouver.
The latest data from the British Columbia Real Estate Association says the sharp increase in mortgage rates is pushing the province's home sales down “a path to normalizing,” although it estimates a balanced market is at least a year away.
According to the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board, April of 2022 marked the first time sales in the region dropped below the 10-year average,
"We would typically see a flurry of activity around this time of the year,” said FVREB president Sandra Benz in a statement.
“However, that’s not been the case so far. While it’s still too early to say whether this trend will endure, the slowing of sales combined with an increase in active listings is helping to restore a semblance of balance to the market, which is encouraging for homebuyers.”
The board also said the increase in mortgage rates is likely driving down demand but "low inventory" means prices are not likely to see a substantial drop.
The average amount of time a property stayed in the market last month in the Fraser Valley was 16 days for a detached home and 13 days for a townhome or apartment.
With files from The Canadian Press
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
He didn't trust police but sought their help anyway. Two days later, he was dead
Jameek Lowery was among more than 330 Black people who died after police stopped them with tactics that aren’t supposed to be deadly, like physical restraint and use of stun guns, The Associated Press found.
Fluid in eye cells can 'boil' if you watch the eclipse without protection: expert
Millions of people in parts of Eastern and Atlantic Canada will be able to see the rare solar eclipse happening on April 8. But they should only look up if they have proper eye protection, experts say.
NEW More unauthorized products for skin, sexual enhancement, recalled: Here are the recalls of this week
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency recalled various items this week, including torches, beef biltong and unauthorized products related to skin care and sexual enhancement.
Where is the worst place for allergy sufferers in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Do these exercises for core strength if you can't stomach doing planks
Planks are one of the most effective exercises for strengthening your midsection, as they target all of your major core muscles: the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, external obliques and internal obliques. Yet despite the popularity of various 10-minute plank challenges, planking is actually one of the most dreaded core exercises, according to many fitness experts.
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Angst and calls for resting places as Surrey, B.C., pet cemetery development continues
A single headstone is all that remains of dozens of markers for long-buried pets in a subdivision in Surrey’s Newton neighbourhood, where a half-acre parcel bears a large sign announcing the proposed construction of new homes.
Polar ice is melting and changing Earth's rotation. It's messing with time itself
One day in the next couple of years, everyone in the world will lose a second of their time. Exactly when that will happen is being influenced by humans, according to a new study, as melting polar ice alters the Earth’s rotation and changes time itself.