Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board MLS® home sales rebound from last year but remain well below average in August

The number of homes sold through the MLS® System of the Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board totaled 191 units in August 2023. This was a substantial increase of 32.6% from August 2022.

Home sales were 28% below the five-year average and 31.1% below the 10-year average for the month of August.

On a year-to-date basis, home sales totaled 1,914 units over the first eight months of the year. This was a moderate decrease of 5.1% from the same period in 2022.

“Home sales bounced back from last August when activity reached the lowest for the month in a decade, although we still have a long way to go before we’re back at more typical levels,” said Brad Latham, President of the Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board. “The recovery that had been building momentum earlier in the year lost some steam over the second half of the summer, although new supply is now trending upward very strongly. This has resulted in a reversal of the tighter conditions we saw at the beginning of the summer and has put the market back closer to buyer’s territory.”

The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) tracks price trends far more accurately than is possible using average or median price measures. The overall MLS® HPI composite benchmark price was $739,800 in August 2023, falling by 2.1% compared to August 2022.

The benchmark price for single-family homes was $894,500, a modest decline of 1.1% on a year-over-year basis in August. By comparison, the benchmark price for townhouse/row units was $609,100, down modestly by 2.9% compared to a year earlier, while the benchmark apartment price was $421,500, a minor decrease of 1.6% from year-ago levels.

The average price of homes sold in August 2023 was $700,155, decreasing by 6.4% from August 2022.
The more comprehensive year-to-date average price was $745,054, a sharp decrease of 12.6% from the first eight months of 2022.

The dollar value of all home sales in August 2023 was $133.7 million, up by 24.2% from the same month in 2022.

The number of new listings saw an increase of 4.8% from August 2022. There were 437 new residential listings in August 2023.

New listings were 3.5% above the five-year average and 8.1% above the 10-year average for the month of August.

Active residential listings numbered 1,095 units on the market at the end of August, a large decline of 11.1% from the end of August 2022.

Active listings were 3.8% above the five-year average and 3.1% above the 10-year average for the month of August.

Months of inventory numbered 5.7 at the end of August 2023, down from the 8.6 months recorded at the end of August 2022 and above the long-run average of 4.5 months for this time of year. The number of months of inventory is the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.

The Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board is an association of 365 REALTORS® that provides services to and sets standards for members. The Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board serves Chilliwack, Agassiz, Hope, Boston Bar and Harrison.