Sales and new listings lagged in Langley compared to last year across most sectors of housing, according to numbers released Tuesday by the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board.
January is typically a slow month for real estate sales, but Langley’s numbers this year were even lower than last year’s, despite a general upwards trend for the region that began in mid-2019 after a pronounced slump in the market.
“Considering our record-shattering snow and cold, the pace of home sales remained surprisingly balanced in January,” said Darin Germyn, president of the FVREB. “Sales in our region have steadily improved since July of last year and January’s numbers remained consistent with that trend.”
Overall, the region saw a 24.2 per cent increase in home sales compared to January of last year.
But Langley bucked the trend, with lower sales in all categories.
In Langley in January, 49 single family homes changed hands in January, compared to 52 in the same month in 2019, a 5.8 per cent decline. There were 47 townhouse sales, down 19 per cent from 58 in 2019.
And condo sales dropped 16.4 per cent year over year, with 46 this year compared to 55 last year.
Aside from the lower sales, there were also fewer people listing their homes for sale.
Langley saw 105 new listings for single family homes, down 29.1 per cent from the 148 logged in 2019. There were 89 new listings for townhouses, down 11 per cent from 100 a year previously, and 140 condo listings, which was a six per cent decline from the 149 in January of 2019.
Prices remained relatively stable or increased slightly for most types of housing in Langley.
The benchmark price for a single family home was $995,500, up 1.6 per cent from a year before. Townhouse prices rose 2.2 per cent to $495,500, while condo prices were down very slightly, to $405,900, a 0.7 per cent dip.
According to the most recent statistics available from Langley Township, 2019 was a middling year for the creation of single-family housing and secondary suites, with 420 building permits for 532 units issued between January and November last year.
However, it was a record year for building permits issued for multi-family units, with 127 building permits issued for 1,404 condo and townhouse units issued over the same period of time.
The number of permits issued for single-family housing was well below the five-year average, which peaked in 2016, but the rate for multi-family was almost double the five year average.