2019 ended with a bang in the real estate market with December logging 33% more sales than the 10 year average for the month. 

After a very slow first half of the year, things certainly picked up in August 2019 and the momentum seemed to continue to grow through right through fall to where we are today in the middle of winter; Typically the slowest season of the year for the market.

2019 saw the least change in price over the year since 2014, which makes sense considering that the boom of recent years started to pickup speed into 2015. Just as an interesting fact on the topic of market history, house prices have almost exactly doubled since 2009. While this does appear to be quite an extreme appreciation in value, looking back as far as 1960, house prices in Vancouver have doubled every 10-15 years through the last 60 years, despite the large price drops of 1980 and 2008. The future is of course always going to be unknown, however, one of the most accurate ways to predict it is by using historical data. Does this mean that houses will be worth double the price they are today in 10 years from now? It’s certainly possible!

December 2019 saw a total of 1,247 sales in the Fraser Valley making it the 6^th highest selling month of 2019. Normally it is the bottom 3 of the year.  This is likely due to the same thing I have been mentioning the last few months, pent up demand from buyers and the acceptance of today’s prices from both buyers and sellers alike.

Even though prices are down year to year, the sales to active listing ratio (how many homes that are currently for sale in a month actually sell) was at 29.4% for December 2019. The highest it has been since April 2018! This likely means a few things, the main one being what I had already mentioned, sellers are finally accepting that they will not get the same price today as they would have 2 years ago.  What does this mean for the future? It’s impossible to say, but it likely means that we will continue to see stability in prices going into the near future, with prices appreciating at an average rate of around 2-4% annually. It is certainly possible that this number could be higher or lower, however, it does not appear that there will be a drastic change in prices over the next couple of years.

If you are thinking of making a move in the near future, don’t hesitate to get in touch soon. It is never too early to start making a plan, and my goal is to help you make a move that you are comfortable with when the time is right for you. Like always, I love hearing from you with questions that you have about the market, so don’t hesitate to get in touch with any questions you have!