Chilliwack* Real Estate Market Analysis and Review: December 2011

This, the first post of the year, looks at the performance of the December 2011 real estate market in the Chilliwack* & District area which extends from Boston Bar to the Vedder Canal west of Chilliwack an area I call "Fraser Cheam" British Columbia, Canada. This analysis will be of interest to homeowners, people considering a purchase in 2012, real estate professionals and the curious.  Every real estate property is unique, and consequently, if you are thinking about acquiring or selling a property in the Chilliwack, Agassiz, Harrison Hot Springs Fraser Cheam communities I would advise that you get the professional services of a member of the Real Estate Institute of BC (RI or REIBC) or a Realtor®.

Chilliwack* Single Family Detached Housing Sales Report for December 2011

MONTH	Sales	Average Sale Price	Days on Market	Active Listings
Dec 2011	80	$314,500	82	722
Nov 2011	95	$306,000	71	956
Dec 2010	79	$288,000	67	n/a

Median SALE Price of Chilliwack* Single Family Detached Homes (SFD): December 2011 - $314,500

Median LISTING Price of active Chilliwack* Single Family Detached Real Estate Homes: January 3, 2012 - $369,000

2011 Market Strength

Single Family House Monthly Unit Sales as % of a 10-Year Monthly Sales Average

Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec
2011	85%	91%	75%	70%	68%	93%	74%	86%	86%	70%	86%	92%

A couple of comments, the first is that December was a good month for Chilliwack single family detached house sales - with a strength of about  92% of what we would expect sales to be for the month of December.  That is quite encouraging.  I also see that the listings of homes for sale has dropped significantly from 956 to 722 reflecting that many sellers elect to take their property off the Chilliwack real estate market for the holiday season.  Average sale prices have bounced upward once again and are up significantly from the poor showing a year ago.  All in all everything is looking good for 2012.


STRATA HOMES


The sale of strata units (townhouses, apartments) with 39 for the month is also a respectable result; we would expect the ten-year average of 43 for the month of December. Still there is a large inventory of townhouses and apartments and less than 10% of them are selling each month. Sellers should to show some flexibility in their negotiations.

Chilliwack* Strata Housing Sales Report for November 2011

MONTH	Sales	Average Sale Price	Days on Market	Active Listings
Dec 2011	39	$215,000	100	445
Nov 2011	39	$193,000	63	566
Dec 2010	41	$218,500	88	n/a

Median Sale Price of Chilliwack* Strata Homes: December 2011 - $214,000

Median Price of Active Chilliwack* Strata Real Estate Listings: October 1, 2011 - $206,500

---

Stephen Mullock RI is an award winning full-time Realtor® with 30 years of experience and a professional member of the Real Estate Institute of British Columbia. Thinking of buying or selling real estate in the Fraser Cheam communities of Chilliwack, Agassiz or Harrison Hot Springs? Contact Steve (click here) of Royal LePage Wheeler Cheam Realty for experience, local knowledge and friendly service.

Happy Holidays

And shall I ask at the day's end once more

What beauty is....

 

Edward Thomas (1878 - 1917)

 Imagine living here...


Stephen Mullock RI is an award winning full-time real estate agent with 30 years of experience and hundreds of sales. Thinking of buying or selling real estate in the Fraser Cheam communities of Chilliwack, Agassiz or Harrison Hot Springs? Contact Steve (click here) for experience, local knowledge and friendly service you’ll be happy you did.

Almost Dawn...

Almost Dawn © Stephen Mullock

Wisps of fog cling to the frosty farm fields as dawn approaches in a sky of pinks and blues.  Another December day is about to begin in the beautiful Chilliwack Fraser Cheam area.   

In the distance, we see Mount McGuire and Mount Sleese raising their heads in readiness for the sun.

Imagine living here....


Stephen Mullock RI is an award winning full-time real estate agent with 30 years of experience and hundreds of sales. Thinking of buying or selling real estate in the Fraser Cheam communities of Chilliwack, Agassiz or Harrison Hot Springs? Contact Steve (click here) for experience, local knowledge and friendly service you’ll be happy you did.

Chilliwack* Real Estate Market Analysis and Review: December 2, 2011

This post looks at the performance of the November 2011 real estate market in the Chilliwack* & District area which extends from Boston Bar to the Vedder Canal west of Chilliwack an area I call "Fraser Cheam". This analysis will be of interest to homeowners, buyers and sellers of real estate, but, readers are advised for reviews of specific real estate properties the services of a real estate professional member of the REIBC or a Realtor® (Royal LePage in Chilliwack) should always be used.

Chilliwack* Single Family Detached Housing Sales Report for November 2011

MONTH	Sales	Average Sale Price	Days on Market	Active Listings
Nov 2011	95	$306,000	71	956
Oct  2011	95	$357,000	87	1014
Nov 2010	109	$341,000	84	n/a

Median SALE Price of Chilliwack* Single Family Detached Homes (SFD): November 2011 - $300,000

Median LISTING Price of active Chilliwack* Single Family Detached Real Estate Homes: December 2, 2011 - $374,500

2011 Market Strength

Single Family House Monthly Unit Sales as % of a 10-Year Monthly Sales Average

Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov
2011	85%	91%	75%	70%	68%	93%	74%	86%	86%	70%	86%

The number of sales remained unchanged at 95 from a month ago and that is a positive sign, as in general, the number of sales drop off, just a little, during the late fall and winter markets.  If we look at November sales of single family detached homes (SFD) for the decade prior to this one we see monthly sale totals as low as 38 in 2008 (financial meltdown) and as high as 160 in 2005.  On average, over this ten-year period there were 111 single family home sales in the month of November.  So for November 2011 we are at about 86% (95 divided by 111) of what could be considered as a normal Chilliwack* single family attached real estate market. Not bad but a market still having a large upside for improvement.

There are 10 sales of single family homes per 100 houses listed for sale on the Multiple Listing Service.  The number of listings is dropping as would be expected for this time of year, down from 1014 to 956 currently.

You will notice that the average house price seems to have taken a steep dive downward from an average of $357,000 in October 2011 to $306,000 and I would caution reading too much into these numbers.  With a smaller number of sales average prices tend to bounce around more than if a larger number of sales were being analyzed.  Do I think that prices have softened -yes- but not too the scale these numbers suggest.  If you would like to find out the value of your property I would suggest, once again, the use of a 
real estate professional member of the REIBC or a Realtor® (Royal LePage in Chilliwack). The best way to evaluate a single family home is compare it to recent sales and listings of similar dwellings in the neighbourhood a process that requires local knowledge, experience and a lot of skill.

There are as of this date good selections of single family homes for sale in the Chilliwack area - in fact there are 956 of them.  The low interest rates, the fine selection of homes and motivated sellers make this an excellent time for a purchase of Chilliwack real estate.

STRATA HOMES


The sale of strata units (townhouses, apartments) with 39 for the month is low; we would expect the ten-year average of 55 for the month of November. Only 7 strata homes are selling each month for every 100 units on the market.

Chilliwack* Strata Housing Sales Report for November 2011

MONTH	Sales	Average Sale Price	Days on Market	Active Listings
Nov 2011	39	$193,000	63	566
Oct 2011	64	$204,000	66	566
Nov 2010	39	$201,000	77	n/a

Median Sale Price of Chilliwack* Strata Homes: November 2011 - $202,500

Median Price of Active Chilliwack* Strata Real Estate Listings: October 1, 2011 - $209,900

---

FOR SALE: Abbotsford Custom 2 Storey House - $529,000 (click image for details)

---

Stephen Mullock RI is an award winning full-time real estate agent with 30 years of experience and hundreds of sales. Thinking of buying or selling real estate in the Fraser Cheam communities of Chilliwack, Agassiz or Harrison Hot Springs? Contact Steve (click here) of Royal LePage Wheeler Cheam Realty (Chilliwack) for experience, local knowledge and friendly service.