March 2022 Pre-Sale Real Estate Market Insights
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In our April 2022 episode of the Fraser Valley edition of the Presale Pulse President of MLA Canada Ryan Lalonde, and Managing Director for the Fraser Valley, Brittany Reimer sit down to give you the latest pre-sale and resale data, as well as some trends we're seeing in real estate across the Fraser Valley.
SALES REMAIN ROBUST FOR THE THIRD CONSECUTIVE MONTH
"New listings in the Fraser Valley continued to climb for the third consecutive month, helping to increase overall active inventory to levels not seen since last July. Property sales remain robust, with another increase in month-over-month benchmark pricing - which is no surprise considering the fundamental issue of lack of supply has yet to be addressed," states Ryan Lalonde.
“We continued to see inventory released into the market through the month of March. As expected, Spring break saw some sales relief, only to see sales further increase near the end of the month. Another notable highlight in March was the BC Government announcement of the new ‘cooling off period’ which will be rolling out to all resale listings as early as this Spring," confirms Brittany Reimer.
There are mixed feelings about this new Legislation from the Real Estate community. The cooling off period is meant to allow home buyers a fair opportunity to bid on properties and change their minds, much like the 7-day rescission period that exists for new developments. Unfortunately, this solution has no impact on the lack of supply available to buyers.
PRESALE ACROSS THE FRASER VALLEY MARKET
Warmer weather is heating up the presale market in the Fraser Valley, with wood frame at the core of the fire. Radley in Surrey City Centre has sold out – blending above $900 PPSF. We expect to hear big things from Central Living and Prosper, the latter of which had over a thousand suite selection forms for its 65 homes. Bosa’s Parkway has sold out of its released inventory, and are now taking registrants and prepping to launch their second tower this Fall.
In terms of concrete homes – Century Living by Manse Group Developments has increased their marketing, so we anticipate a successful sales program and presentation centre launch.
"Expect to start hearing more on the third and final tower at Foster Martin in South Surrey – we’re hearing their sales launch will begin in May, after Foster and Martin finish completions," says Brittany Reimer.
SUPPLY CONTINUES TO INCREASE IN RESALE
This March we saw the third consecutive month of significant increases in new listings available. The board reported about 4,600 new listings in March, which is down 10% from March of last year, but up 22.4% from February. Even with the three months of increases, we’re are still faced with lack of supply in the market.
Demand remains very robust, with Buyers moving quickly to take advantage of the increased selection of homes. March saw just under 2,600 transactions, which is a 41.4% increase from the previous month of February.
“With all the talk of rate increases recently, it’s possible many buyers that have been watching on the sidelines are now racing to lock in rates while they’re still favourable,” notes Ryan Lalonde.
After the Fraser Valley reached price parity with the Greater Vancouver market for the first time in March, people have been eagerly monitoring the market for any shifts. While price appreciation has slowed since the last month, we still saw monthly gains on price point across product type and neighbourhood, revealing the stamina that the Fraser Valley market has. Detached, townhome, and condominium product saw 3.4%, 5.4% and 4.6% month-over-month increases to their benchmark price, respectively. This was another 5% increase in pricing for condos and almost 6% on townhomes.
SALES TO LISTING RATIOS IN THE FRASER VALLEY
While the increase in inventory is great to see it wasn’t enough to significantly move the needle down on the ratios with demand still outpacing supply. The overall sales-to-listings ratio was 48%. Detached homes saw a 46% ratio while similarly to Greater Vancouver, townhome and condo ratios are very similar at 69% for townhome and 67% for condo.
For the latest real estate market data on Greater Vancouver, watch the latest video featuring Ryan Lalonde and Suzana Goncalves.
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