Fraser Valley Real Estate Board

NEWS RELEASE

For immediate release: August 4, 2010

FRASER VALLEY HOME BUYERS TAKE

HOLIDAY IN JULY

(Surrey, BC) – The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board (FVREB) processed 1,101 sales on its Multiple

Listing Service (MLS®) in July, a decrease of 47 per cent compared to the 2,089 sales during the same

month last year and down 39 per cent compared to June.

“Last year, we experienced the busiest July in our history and this year it was the quietest in a decade,”

says FVREB President, Deanna Horn. “Although the real estate market typically slows in the summer

months, we didn’t anticipate this level of change.

“We attribute it to a combination of factors, the beautiful weather, interest rates edging up and reaction to

the Harmonized Sales Tax in BC – although the HST does not apply to resale housing, not everyone

knows that,” explains Horn.

“The plus side of this market is highly favourable conditions for buyers – potentially the best they will be

this year due to the significant volume of listings currently, which is already showing signs of

decreasing.”

In July, Fraser Valley’s MLS® received 25 per cent fewer new listings, 2,355, compared to the 3,153 new

listings received in June. At month’s end, the total active inventory was 10,852, 14 per cent more than

was available in July 2009, however 2 per cent fewer than in June.

For the first time since January 2009, benchmark prices for the three main residential property types:

single family homes, townhomes and condos, decreased compared to the previous month. The benchmark

price for Fraser Valley detached homes in July was $510,470, down 1.5 per cent compared to June and

6.9 per cent higher compared to $477,420 in July 2009.

The benchmark price of Fraser Valley townhouses in July was $325,856, a 0.7 per cent decrease

compared to June and a 6.9 per cent increase compared to July 2009 when it was $304,940. The

benchmark price of apartments decreased by 0.8 per cent from June and increased 4.4 per cent year-overyear

going from $234,178 in July 2009 to $244,368 in July 2010.

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