July a cool month for home sales

Homes sales for Chilliwack and surrounding areas declined this July, a traditionally strong real estate month.

A total of 205 units sold last month, down from 223 in July 2012 and from 215 this past June.

Meanwhile, homes sales in the Fraser Valley real estate market, which includes properties from Abbotsford to Surrey, bucked negative trends and rose five per cent over July 2012.

The Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board attributes the local decline to an above-average home sales month last year.

“The story in July was really a story about volatility last year,” said CADREB president Jesse Hildebrandt in a release. “Recall that there was a surge in demand last July. That’s the reason sales were down on a year-over-year basis this July. That was followed by a dramatic slowdown last August, so we’ll likely see a big year-over-year increase this August."

On the bright side, the average price of homes has risen five per cent since July 2012, to last month's average of $328,273.

There were 120 single family detached homes that found new owners last month, at an average price of $361,410. These took about 66 days to sell. The 47 townhouses that exchanged hands went for an average of $255,104 in 82 days. The 21 condos went for $177,290 in 110 days.

There were 1,825 active listings at the end of July, representing 8.9 months of inventory. That's down 27 listings from July 2012.

CADREB, which caters to homes in Chilliwack, Agassiz, Hope, Boston Bar and Harrison, remains optimistic that the local market is on an upward swing.

"Putting last year’s ups and downs aside, the real story is that sales have been steadily improving in recent months along with a pick-up in average price growth,” said Hildebrandt.