August 2020 was nearly a record-breaking month in the Fraser Valley for the total number of homes sold. Coming in second only to August 2005, August 2020’s 1,938 sales was  39% higher than the 10 year average for the month of August, and a whopping 57% more sales compared to August 2019.

July 2020 did outperform August 2020 by a margin of 2.9%, but both months showed to be highly active for the summer months, especially when we have been in a rather slow market for the last couple of years.

The spike in activity may seem counterintuitive when we consider the fact that both employment and immigration are down due to the current pandemic, but we do have to consider that certain sectors of employment were certainly hit harder than others. The majority of those jobs affected by the coronavirus were lower paying service industry and entry level jobs, that do not offer the type of pay that would allow one to purchase a home in the Fraser Valley.

The lockdowns also caused several industries to allow employees to work from home, a shift that will likely remain long term for many people. Working from home most days means that the location of your home is not as important when it comes to your daily commute; The trip from the bedroom to your home office is the same whether your home is in Yaletown or Aldergrove. This shift will likely cause home prices in areas further away from Vancouver to rise at a slightly higher rate than those homes located in Vancouver.

Another major factor for driving the sales activity up so high is the historically low interest rates that are currently available. For all those buyers that were ready to buy in the spring but were held back due to concerns over the pandemic, the lower interest rates have allowed them to have even more buying power than before.

Prices are up an average of 5% compared to August 2019 but are still 2.4% lower than their peak price in June 2018. It is looking likely that we will see new record high prices come Spring of 2021 if the current pandemic does not worsen.

All signs also point to the market being a seller’s market as 30 out of every 100 homes listed in the Fraser sold in the month August. Townhomes were in the highest demand with 41 of every 100 townhomes selling and condos were the lowest with 23 of every 100 selling (anything above 20 is considered a seller’s market). For detached homes 32 of every 100 sold in the month. On top of this we saw an average month to month price increase of about 0.4%. We will likely see theses numbers lower for the next few months as many of the buyers who were delayed in their purchases due to the pandemic have now purchased.

All in all the market is in a very healthy state and it is a great time to make a move happen, whether you are moving up, downsizing, or just getting into the market.
Everyone’s situation is unique and I always tailor my approach to you, so reach out today with any questions that you have about our market, or your plans on making your next move!