Real estate sales tend to pick up in the spring, and this year appears no different in the local market.
The latest stats from the Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board (CADREB) showed far more activity in March at the tail end of a sleepy winter. Overall, the market is still sluggish and year to year the numbers are shaky, but for people putting their homes for sale the needle’s pointing up.
“Market activity in March started gaining momentum with sales increasing by 50 per cent from February,” said CADREB president Brad Latham. “Having said that, sales totals for the month were still below last year’s performance and were also below the long-term averages.”
There were 163 single-family homes sold in March, up from 96 in February. The average value (AV) of $846,401 was about the same as last month ($847,195), but down 20.58 per cent from 12 months ago when the AV was $1,065,740.
Single-family homes stayed on the market for just over a month (31.5 days) before selling.
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There were 58 townhouses sold in March, up from 48 in February. The AV rose 7.46 per cent month-over-month, from $592,135 to $636,298. But year to year, it was down 15.40 per cent from $752,129 in March, 2022.
Townhouses took an average of 23 days to sell.
There were 52 condominiums sold in March, up from 37 in February. The AV of $382,210 was up 3.77 per cent from last month’s $368,311, but down 16.21 per cent from 12 months ago when the AV was $456,149.
Condominiums took an average of 34.5 days to sell.
Taken together, 293 residential properties sold for an AV of 723,283. Through the first three months of 2023 there have been 606 sales, representing a decline of 41.8 per cent from the first three months of 2022.
There was one sale over $2 million and 38 over $1 million.
Inventory continues to be an issue. There were 851 end-of-month listings, up slightly from February’s 812, but still low overall.
“The number of newly listed properties was the highest single month total since last September, but they were still below what we would expect for the month of March,” Latham noted.
CADREB is an association of 365 realtors serving an area that includes Chilliwack, Agassiz, Hope, Boston Bar and Harrison.
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eric.welsh@theprogress.com
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