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Chilliwack real estate prices again hit new highs

Sales down year over year but less so compared to other Lower Mainland communities
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The median single family resale home in the Chilliwack and district area sold in March 2018 for $634,450. (CADREB)

New mortgage rules and a lack of supply may finally be slowing real estate sales in the Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board (CADREB).

But the slowdown is only minor and prices continue to rise.

There were 303 sales in the area in March for an average sale price of $527,126. That’s up from $508,261 in February 2018, up 22 per cent from $432,879 in March 2017, and up 37 per cent from $384,356 two years ago in March 2016.

It was then when there were 494 sales in the area and listings hovered around the 1,000 mark.

With just 827 listings at the end of March this year, the lack of supply is in part be leading to lower sales but what is listed is being snapped up quickly and is leading to higher prices.

The decline in sales across the Lower Mainland is attributed at least in part to the new “stress test” for mortgages implemented this year.

All borrowers must now qualify for a mortgage based on either the five-year benchmark rate or their lender’s actual rate plus two per cent, whichever is higher. The change apply to all mortgages, new or renewed, even if the down payment exceeds 20 per cent.

While sales in CADREB – which includes Chilliwack, Agassiz, Hope and all places in between – were down year over year by 16.5 per cent, that drop is less than other communities to the west in the Fraser Valley and Metro Vancouver.

Detached homes continue to lead the way for sales in CADREB with 158 sales last month with a median sale price of $634,450 for resold homes and $723,425 for new homes. That’s a drop in sales of single family homes of 18.6 per cent.

To compare, detached home sales in White Rock were down 29.9 per cent, Langley 39.6 per cent, North Delta 30 per cent and Surrey was down 27.6 per cent.

And while condo sales were down 27.9 per cent across the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board, which runs from Abbotsford to White Rock, sales of apartments were identical year over year in Chilliwack and townhouses down 16.9 per cent.

The 303 sales in CADREB last month may fall short of March 2017 and 2016, it’s still 19.5 per cent above the 10-year average of sales for March of 253.5.

The median sale price of a townhouse in CADREB last month was $436,675, up 18.4 per cent over 2017, and apartment median sale price was $230,000, up 21.4 per cent over March 2017.

• RELATED: BCREA forecasts Chilliwack real estate to slow down for 2018, 2019


@PeeJayAitch
paul.henderson@theprogress.com

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