High interest rates kept a lid on sales and listings in 2023, while holding year-over-year price growth to low single digits.
That’s according to the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board’s year-end report, noting the Fraser Valley region ended the year with a sales decline of four per cent over 2022, and 23 per cent below the 10-year average. New listings in the Fraser Valley were also at a 10-year low, at eight per cent below the 10-year average.
“Back-to-back mid-year interest rate hikes slowed the market despite strong sales and new listings in the spring,” said Narinder Bains, FVRB Chair, in a news release. “This left the market in overall balance for the latter half of the year, albeit at low levels of activity. We anticipate 2024 will bring increased optimism on behalf of buyers and sellers as the Bank of Canada is expected to lower interest rates before mid-year.”
A far as the month of December, the FVRB recorded a drop of six per cent in sales from November 2023, but 17 per cent higher than December 2022.
According to the FVRB, the benchmark price for a single-detached house in North Delta in December 2023 was $1,347,000, a 1.2 per cent decrease from the previous month, but up seven per cent from December 2022.
The benchmark price last month for a North Delta townhouse was $907,600, up 10.5 per cent from December 2022. The benchmark price for a condo last month was $573,400, up just over five per cent from December 2022.
The BC Real Estate Association’s forecast is for the average five-year fixed mortgage rate to fall to 5.05 per cent by the end of 2024, while variable rates will start falling as the Bank of Canada lowers its overnight rate starting in the first or second quarter of this year.
