Single-family home sales are down in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, but condos and townhomes continue to sell, according to the latest statistics from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.
Over the past three months, home sales in the two cities totaled 188, compared to 203 in the August-October period in 2022. That’s a 7.4 percent decline.
However, sales of apartments and townhomes rose by about 20 percent. 111 townhouses were sold during the past three months, compared to 92 during the same period last year, and 103 apartments compared to 86 the previous year.
Homes under $1 million are still a sought-after commodity, said Rob Paul, a Realtor with RE/MAX who has watched the market’s ups and downs over the past 17 years.
“Single-family detached under $1 million will still get multiple offers,” he said.
Townhouses priced in the $700,000s, and condos in general, are similarly popular with buyers in Maple Ridge, he added.
“The importance of pricing your property correctly is more important than ever,” he said, noting that a very high price could be the difference between selling a home in two or three weeks, or waiting months without potential buyers showing up.
MLS sales statistics confirm that prices are falling. The median sales price in Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows in October was $1.25 million for a townhouse, $780,000 for a townhome, and $523,000 for a condo. In October 2022, the average was $1.38 million for a house, $835,000 for a townhouse, and $546,000 for a condo.
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REBGV reports residential sales in the region totaled 1,996 in October 2023, which was 30 percent below the 10-year seasonal average (2,832) for October.
“With properties hitting the market at a rate about five percent above the ten-year seasonal average, there appears to be a continuation of the renewed interest on the part of sellers to participate in the market we have been monitoring this fall,” said Andrew Lees, director of economics and data analysis at REBGV. However, counterbalancing this increase in supply is the fact that sales are still around 30 per cent below the ten-year seasonal average, which tells us that demand is not as strong as we might expect at this time of year.”
The market is moving toward more balance, and it’s worth noting that the multifamily segment is still more active than the detached market, Lees said.
He said: “Although the highest borrowing costs we have seen in more than a decade continue to limit affordability, the silver lining for buyers is that rate increases have eased with more balanced market conditions, meaning purchasing power is holding steady.” at present”. .
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