After months of stale home sales in Abbotsford, May seems to have marked the start of a slow recovery for the local housing market, according to the latest report from the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board.
In only one month, the local real estate market has had a significant turnaround, especially when it comes to sales, which have jumped across all three property types – detached, townhouse, and apartment – compared to April.
The biggest change was with townhouses, where 61 Abbotsford units were sold in May, which was a 90.6 per cent increase from April and a 24.5 per cent increase from May 2024.
Detached home sales also had a major jump, increasing by 50 per cent from April and 6.8 per cent year-over-year. Meanwhile, apartment sales had a one-month increase of nearly 16 per cent, but decreased by 31.1 per cent from this same time last year.
FVREB CEO Baldev Gill explained that this is likely the start of a larger, long-term return to more home sales in Abbotsford and the rest of the Fraser Valley market.
"Many buyers are taking a wait-and-see approach, hoping for the economy to improve," Gill said.
"Job security, inflation, and the cost of living continue to weigh on the minds of many families. As soon as greater confidence begins to return, we could start to see more activity in the market."
Home sales weren't the only thing to climb in May, with the number of active listings also increasing for all three property types.
Compared to May 2024, detached home listings increased by 18.3 per cent, townhouse listings increased by 56.9 per cent, and apartment listings increased by 38.8 per cent.
As listings and sales climbed last month, home prices continued the recent downward trend, with the benchmark price for detached homes decreasing to $1,202,700, marking a 0.7 per cent drop from April and a 3.1 per cent decrease from 2024.
Apartment benchmark prices had almost identical percentage decreases, while townhouse prices fell by 1.4 per cent year-over-year and actually increased by 0.7 per cent from April.
FVREB chair Tore Jacobsen said that this combination of market conditions has resulted in a slightly challenging situation for sellers.
"We’re seeing that homes priced appropriately for today’s market are selling, while sellers who aren’t in a rush are choosing to hold off or stand firm on pricing and wait for more favourable conditions," Jacobsen said.
