Chilliwack’s real estate market just experienced its slowest July in more than two decades.
With the full impact of rising interest rates kicking in, a total of 133 residential properties sold last month, falling sharply from the 310 that were sold in July of 2021.
According to numbers from the Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board (CADREB), home sales were 49 per cent below the five-year average and 52.4 per cent below the 10-year average for the month of July.
“Sales activity has declined substantially in a very short amount of time as buyers are being forced to continuously re-evaluate their financial positions under the constantly evolving mortgage rate landscape,” said CADRED president Daryl Moniz.
Through the first seven months of 2022 there have been a total of 1,871 units sold, down 41.8 per cent from the same time frame in 2021. Interest rates may continue going up, creating uncertainty for buyers.
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“We’ve still got a few more rate hikes on the horizon so this isn’t something that will sort itself out in the next few months, but by the end of the year the situation should stabilize and anyone who wants to participate in the housing market will have a better idea of where they stand,” Moniz noted.
The slowdown is now starting to show itself in the average value of homes, which declined across the board in July.
The average price of a single family home dipped to $970,390, the first time it’s been below $1-million since November of 2021.
The average price of a townhouse settled in at $613,869 and the average price of a condominium dropped to $408,611.
While those values are below the record-setting peak Chilliwack hit in February-April, they are still high from a historical perspective.
The single-family home value, for instance, is higher than it it was in July of 2021, when it sat at $869, 641, and it’s still the ninth highest total of all-time for July.
While rising interest rates are the prime culprit in the real estate slowdown, increased inventory is playing a role. There were 1,295 end-of-month listings, a total not seen since there were 1,521 in February of 2020.
There were 597 end-of-month listings following July of 2021.
“On the supply side we’re still seeing a very healthy dose of new listings come onto the market,” Moniz said. “However, given the current imbalance between supply and demand, it’s likely that it will take some time for sellers to adjust their pricing expectations to what buyers can afford.”
One home sold for more than $2-million last month and 27 went for over $1-million.
With nine sales each, $700,000 to $750,000 and $850,000 to $900,000 were the most popular price brackets.
CADREB is an association of 365 realtors serving Chilliwack, Agassiz, Hope, Boston Bar and Harrison.
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