Home sales dropped sharply in Langley and around the Lower Mainland in April, according to statistics released by the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board (FVREB).
In Langley, 250 homes changed hands in April this year, compared to 311 in the same month last year.
Sales of detached houses were down 28.8 per cent, condo sales were down 22.1 per cent, and townhouse sales remained exactly even.
After a period of extremely competitive markets, with fewer homes for sale than normal, the market is swinging back as more homes come up for sale at the same time as sales are flattening or declining.
There was a regional increase of 15.3 per cent in active listings in April compared to the same month in 2017.
“While it’s great to see the increase in inventory we were looking for, both buyers and sellers remain careful as pricing continues to climb,” said John Barbisan, president of the FVREB.
Prices in Langley did continue to go up, both year-over-year and in most cases, month-over-month.
The average price for a detached house in Langley in April was $1.19 million. The benchmark price, calculated by the FVREB as the price of a typical home, was $1.04 million.
The benchmark price is up 16.5 per cent in one year, the average price is up 26.8 per cent.
The average price of townhouses rose to $620,496, up 15.9 per cent, and the average price of condos was up to $310,023, a 43.9 per cent increase year-over-year.
The trend was broadly similar across Metro Vancouver.
In the FVREB area, from North Delta to Abbotsford, overall sales were down 23.4 per cent.
In the rest of the region, covered by the Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board, home sales were down 27.4 per cent year-over-year.