The British Columbia Real Estate Association recently released an update on provincial housing market conditions in the province for February 2023. As always, the news release provides a nice snapshot of macro housing market conditions, broadly.
The report included this statement: “While activity across provincial housing markets remains well below normal,” said BCREA Chief Economist Brendon Ogmundson. “There are encouraging signs that the market is balancing out. Home sales rose month-over-month in most markets, and prices appear to be firming up in the face of low supply.”
This comment accurately reflects the state of the Fraser Valley housing market right now. There are indeed early signs of a balancing out of the residential real estate market. A few more months of data will provide a clearer picture though.
Here is a direct link to the BCREA's news release.
Below is a high level overview of market conditions as provided by the BCREA. Dollar volume and unit sales were down big in February 2023 compared to a year earlier. Prices were off on average by -26%.
Looking ahead, two key variables will likely have a large influence on the Fraser Valley housing market for the rest of 2023: 1) the movement in mortgage rates and 2) new listings. That is what I will be paying close attention to.