The Chilliwack real estate market is undergoing “slow and steady” improvements, even if March sales numbers fell a little flat.
The Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board characterized home sales as “subdued but still rising” according to CADREB’s monthly report for March.
The number of homes sold through the MLS System in Chilliwack totalled 266 units in March 2024 - a decrease of 8.9 per cent from March 2023.
“Although sales activity came in below last year’s March reading, we are still seeing signs of a slow and steady improvement on a month-by-month basis in our market,” said Steven Kelly, president of the Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board.
New supply is holding strong, and available inventory is just “slightly above average levels,” Kelly said.
Once demand picks up there will be ample listings to supply those buyers with, so it may be some time before they begin seeing anything stronger than modest price growth, even if the market picks up.
Home sales were 29.3 per cent below the five-year average and 23.9 per cent below the 10-year average for the month of March.
On a year-to-date basis, home sales totaled 684 units over the first three months of the year. This was a sizable gain of 13.1 per cent from the same period in 2023.
The overall composite benchmark price was $747,900 in March 2024, which was the home price index, up by 6.4 per cent compared to March 2023.
The benchmark price for single-family homes was $914,600, an increase of 7.5 per cent on a year-over-year basis in March. By comparison, the benchmark price for townhouse/row units was $620,200, a moderate gain of 6.8 per cent compared to a year earlier, while the benchmark apartment price was $414,700, increasing by 8 per cent from year-ago levels.
The average price of homes sold in March 2024 was $783,851, increasing by 8 per cent from March 2023.
The more comprehensive year-to-date average price was $761,168, a gain of 5.9 per cent from the first three months of 2023.
The dollar value of all home sales in March 2024 was $208.5 million, down modestly by 1.6 per cent from the same month in 2023.
The number of new listings saw an increase of 16.1 per cent from March 2023. There were 518 new residential listings in March 2024.
Active residential listings numbered 983 units on the market at the end of March, a sizable gain of 19.7 per cent from the end of March 2023. Active listings haven’t been this high in the month of March in five years. The active listings were 12.6 per cent above the five-year average and 10.7 per cent above the 10-year average for the month of March.
CADREB is an association of 365 Realtors that provides services and sets standards for members, serving Chilliwack, Agassiz, Hope, Boston Bar and Harrison.