Housing sales in Langley dropped off sharply in March compared to last year, while prices remained largely flat.
In Langley in March, 90 single family homes were sold, according to statistics from the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board. That’s down from 149 in March last year, a 39.6 per cent decline.
Langley saw 97 townhouses change hands, down 13.4 per cent, and 85 condos, down 21.3 per cent.
Although prices are still considerably higher than a year ago, there was little to no change for houses or townhouses from February.
In March, the benchmark, average, and median prices for detached homes in Langley were all slightly above $1 million. The benchmark price – the price of a “typical” unit – for a townhouse was $514,900, while the average price was $603,316. A benchmark condo was selling for $444,500, while an average condo sold for $409,901.
Year over year, the average price of a house was up 11.5 per cent, a townhouse saw a 19.1 per cent increase, and condos were up by 32.3 per cent.
Although sales have dropped, the inventory of houses on the market remains low compared to recent years.
There were 4,796 homes of all kinds on the market from North Delta to Abbotsford, including Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows.
That’s roughly equal to the number last year at this time, but from 2010 to 2015, the inventory typically hovered between 6,000 to 10,000 homes. After that, inventories dropped sharply.
The increase in sales in townhouses and condos in Langley, and the decrease in single-family home sales, has been a trend seen across the region as average house prices skyrocketed in recent years.
In the past year, prices for condos began jumping sharply as demand increased.
Construction activity has been steadily rising in Langley, with hundreds of condo and townhouse units under construction in Langley City, Willoughby, and Murrayville.
There’s been an increasing trend in development permits being issued in the Township, according to community development manager Ramin Seifi.
“There has not been a drop, for sure,” Seifi said.
