The Fraser Valley real estate sector saw a record number of homes change hands in 2016, with the value of properties also setting a new high.
A total of $16.2 billion worth of property was sold through the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board’s (FVREB) Multiple Listing Service in 2016, smashing the previous record of $12.2 billion set in 2015. The board’s territory ranges from White Rock to Abbotsford.
December closed with benchmark prices of typical single-family homes, townhouse units and apartments in Abbotsford all up between 28 and 38 per cent over the course of the year, although the final months of 2016 displayed a marked slowdown.
The benchmark price – which denotes a “typical” property – of a single-family home was $494,800 when the year began, but closed at $666,500 by the end of the year, up 35 per cent. Apartment prices rose even quicker, with a benchmark price rising by 39 per cent, from $154,100 to $213,700. Townhome prices rose a little slower, with the benchmark increasing by 29 per cent from $229,000 to $295,000.
For single-family and townhouses, most increases in value came through the first two-thirds of 2016. House prices have increased only slightly, while the townhouse benchmark price has retreated slightly since September.
Apartments prices, meanwhile, have continued to climb, albeit more slowly than earlier in the year, rising by around seven per cent since September.
“The Fraser Valley market was consistently strong throughout 2016, and at times tremendously active,” FVREB president Charles Wiebe said in a news release. “However, at year’s end, we see sales returning to more typical levels and low overall inventory.”
