If you had a home to sell in the Chilliwack area, December probably wasn’t a good month for you. But if you were moving a townhouse or condominium, you may have done well.
While the average value of single-family homes took another hit last month, strata properties saw a bump.
In the latest numbers released by the Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board (CADREB), only 58 single-family dwellings sold in December. CADREB represents an area covering Yarrow to Lytton and you have to go back to January of 2019 and its 53 sales to find a slower month.
While Decembers are generally sluggish, December 2020 had 147 sales and December 2021 had 129.
The average value of a single-family home dropped 5.41 per cent last month, from $861,009 to $814,433. It’s the fourth dip in the last five months and a substantial decrease from December 2021’s average value of $1,047,591.
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Single family homes are also taking longer to sell, from 23 days in December 2021 to 54 in December 2022.
But as mentioned off the top, not everything is gloomy. Thirty-four townhouses came off the market last month at an average value of $589,254, representing an 8.54 per cent jump from November’s $542,832. Townhouse values have risen in three of the last four months.
Fewer condominiums sold in December than November (22 versus 32), but they went for more money. The average value of a condo rose 7.97 per cent from $337,342 to $364,223.
Taken together, there were 125 residential property sales in Chilliwack last month, for an average value of $653,389. There were 13 sales over $1-million but zero sales over $2-million. The most popular price bracket, with 13 sales, was between $550,000 and $600,000.
Home sales were 35.4 per cent below the five-year average and 31.9 per cent below the 10-year average for the month of December.
“Although there were promising signs of activity at the end of 2022 after sales took a large dip in the wake of repeated interest rate hikes, the year was subdued on the whole compared to recent history,” said CADREB president Daryl Moniz. “The market popped up into balanced territory in the last month of the year, which continues the momentum of readjustment after bottoming out in June 2022 and holds some promise for a further re-balancing in 2023. It will be difficult to monitor trends with much foresight in the next few months as supply remains traditionally low at this time of year, but once the spring comes around we should have a better idea of how 2023 might play out.”
December ended with 707 listings on the market, substantially more than the record-low 264 that were available at the same point in 2021.
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eric.welsh@theprogress.com
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