Fraser Valley Real Estate Board

Monthly Statistics Package

October 2008
 Fraser Valley Real Estate Board
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: November 3, 2008

FRASER VALLEY REAL ESTATE PICTURE:

SALES, INVENTORY & PRICES DECREASE
(Surrey, BC) – Property sales in the Fraser Valley decreased by 48 per cent in October compared to the same
month last year, moving from 1,464 sales on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in October 2007 to 768
sales for the same period in 2008.
Although REALTORS® have seen month-to-month price fluctuations in a number of Fraser Valley communi-
ties the overall change in home prices over the past six months is downward, with average prices of detached
homes showing a decrease of 6.5 per cent, average prices of townhomes down 9.2 per cent and average prices
of apartments down 2.6 per cent.
“The decrease in home sales does not reflect BC’s positive economic reality of record low unemployment and
interest rates and consistent population growth,” says Kelvin Neufeld, President of the Fraser Valley Real Estate
Board. “While the global economic picture is causing individual buyers to wait on the sidelines, there are prop-
erty developers across the Lower Mainland who remain confident in BC’s economic fundamentals and continue
to move forward with current and long-term projects.
“In some areas of the Fraser Valley, the number of days on the market has doubled in the past year putting more
pressure on sellers to lower their asking prices,” Neufeld says. “The benefit of lower sales and higher inventory
is that homes are becoming more affordable. Currently, there are some excellent buys in the Fraser Valley. With
our typically slower, ‘winter’ months ahead it presents consumers with the best buying conditions we’ve seen
this year.”
The Board received 2,794 new listings last month, an 11 per cent decrease from the 3,124 new listings received
during the same month last year and also 8 per cent fewer than the 3,053 listings received in September 2008.
This decrease in new listings lowered the number of active listings to 11,715 in October, still 42 per cent higher
than October of last year, yet a 5 per cent decrease from September 2008.
The average price of a single family detached home in the Fraser Valley was $513,892 in October 2008, a de-
crease of 0.6 per cent compared to $517,087 in October of last year and a decrease of 6.5 per cent compared to
$549,512 in May 2008.
Townhomes went for an average $309,834 last month, reflecting a 6.1 per cent decrease from October 2007
when they averaged $329,991, and reflecting a decrease of 9.2 per cent compared to the average price of
$341,149 in May 2008. The average price of an apartment in October was $223,669, a decrease of 1.6 per cent
compared to $227,358 last year and a decrease of 2.6 per cent compared to $229,727 in May 2008.
-30-
Information and photos of all Fraser Valley Real Estate Board listings can be found on the national, public website www.mls.ca. Using
the services of a REALTOR®, who has detailed access to the full, private MLS® database is the most effective way to purchase your new
home. Further market statistics can be found on the Board’s website at www.fvreb.bc.ca.
The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board is an association of 3,127 real estate professionals who live and work in the communities of North
Delta, Surrey, White Rock, Langley, Abbotsford, and Mission.
 Fraser Valley Real Estate Board
MLS® SUMMARY
October 2008
1
RESIDENTIAL DETACHED
N. Delta Surrey W. Rock Langley Abbotsford Mission All Areas
Average Price
Oct-08 472,658 502,189 904,643 500,840 436,589 385,001 513,892
Sep-08 511,565 510,020 814,532 511,958 413,259 407,845 522,816
change -7.6% -1.5% 11.1% -2.2% 5.6% -5.6% -0.6%
Oct-07 486,857 522,669 867,826 532,094 429,803 401,386 517,087
change -2.9% -3.9% 4.2% -5.9% 1.6% -4.1% -0.6%

Median Price
Oct-08 425,000 505,000 860,000 481,500 393,000 389,000 464,000
Sep-08 469,880 495,900 697,500 500,000 378,250 392,500 482,000
change -9.6% 1.8% 23.3% -3.7% 3.9% -0.9% -3.7%
Oct-07 475,000 520,000 820,000 522,000 409,000 382,000 477,000
change -10.5% -2.9% 4.9% -7.8% -3.9% 1.8% -2.7%

Housing Price Index

Oct-08 207.6 204.8 216.2 197.6 210.9 218.5 208.4
ch. 1 mo. -5.1% -2.9% -1.4% -3.0% 0.3% -0.2% -2.0%
ch. 1 yr. -4.8% -3.3% -4.9% -5.9% -0.8% -2.8% -2.6%
ch. 5 yr. 59.0% 63.3% 68.5% 61.1% 63.8% 74.5% 63.7%

Unit Sales
Oct-08 26 136 36 70 69 40 377
Sep-08 41 156 55 74 81 34 441
Oct-07 50 278 56 122 155 69 730

UNITS LISTED/SOLD: All Sales, FVREB

Oct-08 Sept-08 change Oct-07 change YTD 08 YTD 07 change
New Listings 2,794 3,053 -8.5% 3,124 -10.6% 32,678 29,698 10.0%
Sales 768 980 -21.6% 1,464 -47.5% 12,198 16,569 -26.4%
Active Listings 11,715 12,379 -5.4% 8,232 42.3%

Average Price: the dollar volume of all sales in a category, divided by the number of sales.
Median Price: the sale price at the mid-point of all sales in that category.
Housing Price Index: the index is an indicator of price trends for a “typical” house in the Fraser Valley as com-
pared to a baseline index of 100 set in 2001. “Typical” has been defined by the residential property features that
occur most frequently in MLS® sales for that area.
 Fraser Valley Real Estate Board
MLS® SUMMARY
October 2008
2
TOWNHOUSES
N. Delta Surrey W. Rock Langley Abbotsford Mission All Areas
Average Price
Oct-08 302,633 308,771 383,058 312,850 271,607 285,000 309,834
Sep-08 471,000 317,925 458,781 313,507 288,190 322,050 329,947
change -35.7% -2.9% -16.5% -0.2% -5.8% -11.5% -6.1%
Oct-07 334,000 321,581 494,067 321,353 302,664 264,466 329,991
change -9.4% -4.0% -22.5% -2.6% -10.3% 7.8% -6.1%

Median Price
Oct-08 258,000 318,000 370,000 305,000 268,250 260,000 312,500
Sep-08 471,000 324,800 399,000 308,000 288,000 299,000 320,000
change -45.2% -2.1% -7.3% -1.0% -6.9% -13.0% -2.3%
Oct-07 334,000 322,500 482,000 315,400 297,000 217,900 320,000
change -22.8% -1.4% -23.2% -3.3% -9.7% 19.3% -2.3%

Housing Price Index

Oct-08 197.9 186.9 202 201 202.9
ch. 1 mo. -1.3% 1.0% -1.9% -5.9% -2.1%
ch. 1 yr. 0.8% -2.1% 1.6% -4.1% -0.4%
ch. 5 yr. 67.3% 55.7% 64.9% 64.5% 66.8%

Unit Sales
Oct-08 3 85 12 24 20 3 147
Sep-08 1 122 26 45 30 4 228
Oct-07 1 136 20 67 50 3 277

Average Price: the dollar volume of all sales in a category, divided by the number of sales.
Median Price: the sale price at the mid-point of all sales in that category.
Housing Price Index: the index is an indicator of price trends for a “typical” house in the Fraser Valley as com-
pared to a baseline index of 100 set in 2001. “Typical” has been defined by the residential property features that
occur most frequently in MLS® sales for that area.
 Fraser Valley Real Estate Board
MLS® SUMMARY
October 2008
3
APARTMENTS
N. Delta Surrey W. Rock Langley Abbotsford Mission All Areas
Average Price
Oct-08 220,513 221,217 288,960 215,660 190,879 319,000 223,669
Sep-08 244,750 219,508 286,775 226,888 184,757 n/a 232,219
change -9.9% 0.8% 0.8% -4.9% 3.3% n/a -3.7%
Oct-07 222,799 201,398 316,103 222,249 194,929 243,225 227,358
change -1.0% 9.8% -8.6% -3.0% -2.1% 31.2% -1.6%

Median Price
Oct-08 154,900 210,000 250,000 208,000 190,000 319,000 210,000
Sep-08 242,000 218,000 255,000 226,000 175,000 n/a 225,000
change -56.2% -3.7% -2.0% -8.0% 8.6% n/a -6.7%
Oct-07 245,000 190,000 292,000 218,500 186,000 189,000 216,000
change -58.2% 10.5% -14.4% -4.8% 2.2% 68.8% -2.8%

Housing Price Index

Oct-08 284.5 245.7 227.8 286.2 265.1
ch. 1 mo. 2.3% -6.2% -5.3% -5.0% -3.1%
ch. 1 yr. -2.4% 1.1% 0.1% -4.1% -1.7%
ch. 5 yr. 132.0% 85.4% 90.8% 115.3% 105.3%

Unit Sales
Oct-08 5 56 20 33 30 1 145
Sep-08 4 73 43 35 27 0 182
Oct-07 5 104 57 38 68 4 276

Average Price: the dollar volume of all sales in a category, divided by the number of sales.
Median Price: the sale price at the mid-point of all sales in that category.
Housing Price Index: the index is an indicator of price trends for a “typical” house in the Fraser Valley as com-
pared to a baseline index of 100 set in 2001. “Typical” has been defined by the residential property features that
occur most frequently in MLS® sales for that area.
 Fraser Valley Real Estate Board
HOUSING PRICE INDEX
October 2008
1
Percentage Change
Price Index 1 mo 3 mo 6 mo 1 yr 3 yr 5 yr
Oct-08 Oct-08 Sept-08 Jul-08 Apr-08 Oct-07 Oct-05 Oct-03

FRASER VALLEY BOARD 439,519 215.0 -2.0 -2.7 -4.3 -2.0 27.7 70.3

FRASER VALLEY BOARD DETACHED 488,983 208.4 -2.0 -3.3 -4.8 -2.6 25.1 63.7

NORTH DELTA 470,317 207.3 -5.1 -7.2 -5.7 -4.8 21.0 59.0
NORTH DELTA ANNIEVILLE 438,257 217.0 -3.4 -0.4 -7.9 -1.6 25.8 63.4
NORTH DELTA NORDEL 450,500 193.9 -8.8 -11.7 -10.1 -12.1 14.2 49.8
NORTH DELTA SCOTTSDALE 416,729 207.5 -4.8 -5.1 -5.5 -7.3 18.6 52.4
NORTH DELTA SUNSHINE HILLS & WOODS 582,387 205.1 -3.4 -10.2 0.3 2.4 26.1 71.7

NORTH SURREY 470,606 204.7 -3.0 -0.3 -1.8 1.5 28.9 58.9
NORTH SURREY BOLIVAR HEIGHTS 403,492 204.5 4.4 2.0 1.7 1.7 28.6 59.4
NORTH SURREY CEDAR HILLS 403,208 211.8 -3.4 -0.3 -1.6 2.3 25.6 67.8
NORTH SURREY FRASER HEIGHTS 648,740 192.9 -3.8 -3.3 -3.0 -0.1 31.1 51.7
NORTH SURREY GUILDFORD 442,743 202.4 -7.2 -4.6 -5.4 -7.7 14.9 53.7
NORTH SURREY OTHER 416,261 216.3 -4.6 4.9 -0.6 10.0 39.6 65.0

SURREY 492,656 204.8 -2.9 -4.2 -4.6 -3.3 23.4 63.3

SURREY BEAR CREEK GREEN TIMBERS 500,464 202.8 0.0 -3.2 -5.0 -3.2 24.9 59.6
SURREY EAST NEWTON 472,010 204.2 -4.4 -5.6 -6.1 -3.1 21.9 67.3
SURREY FLEETWOOD TYNEHEAD 523,102 194.6 -6.6 -8.7 -7.3 -4.3 23.1 57.2
SURREY PANORAMA RIDGE SULLIVAN 595,290 216.5 0.8 1.6 -0.7 0.4 34.3 73.9
SURREY QUEEN MARY PARK 427,189 200.3 -0.3 -3.5 -2.0 -2.9 18.9 56.1
SURREY WEST NEWTON 452,560 201.6 -4.0 -2.8 -4.6 -5.2 19.6 58.9
CLOVERDALE 533,939 209.9 2.0 -0.6 -3.4 2.7 36.6 65.5

SOUTH SURREY & WHITE ROCK 712,827 216.2 -1.4 -1.7 -6.2 -4.9 21.5 68.5
S SURREY CRESCENT BEACH OCEAN PARK 782,590 253.0 6.4 4.3 -1.9 4.2 29.2 91.1
SOUTH SURREY ELGIN CHANTRELL 1,025,982 203.9 -10.2 -0.7 -12.2 0.1 26.0 60.4
SOUTH SURREY KING GEORGE CORRIDOR 496,608 186.7 -11.3 -12.3 -12.4 -12.6 15.1 54.6
SOUTH SURREY SOUTH-EAST 994,418 216.3 2.4 4.6 -1.0 7.1 31.9 81.6
SOUTH SURREY SUNNYSIDE PARK 696,602 210.1 2.3 3.9 -1.2 1.7 19.5 70.1
SOUTH SURREY WHITE ROCK 629,607 215.1 0.8 -5.4 -7.2 -17.7 15.2 49.9

LANGLEY 487,362 197.6 -3.0 -5.9 -6.0 -5.9 23.8 61.1

LANGLEY ALDERGROVE 388,362 196.2 -8.0 -3.5 -4.4 -8.1 16.0 59.4
L CITY MURRAYVILLE WILLGHBY BROOKSWD 511,333 215.4 -0.7 -3.3 -4.8 -3.6 28.3 64.7
LANGLEY WALNUT GROVE 504,653 181.3 -4.2 -11.5 -8.8 -8.7 20.1 56.9

ABBOTSFORD 419,846 210.9 0.3 -2.9 -5.2 -0.8 24.0 63.8

ABBOTSFORD CENTRAL POPLAR 370,168 208.6 0.1 -3.0 -3.1 -2.2 26.2 56.5
ABBOTSFORD EAST 465,284 212.8 -0.3 -2.7 -5.6 0.3 27.4 69.0
ABBOTSFORD WEST 405,017 209.8 1.0 -3.1 -5.9 -1.2 19.3 66.9

MISSION 368,091 218.5 -0.2 -1.3 -4.6 -2.8 30.6 74.5

Housing Price Index

The Housing Price Index numbers estimate the percentage change in price on a “typical” and constant-quality
property over time. All indices equal 100 in 2001. An index of 120 indicates a 20% increase in price since 2001.
 Fraser Valley Real Estate Board
HOUSING PRICE INDEX
October 2008
2
Percentage Change
Price Index 1 mo 3 mo 6 mo 1 yr 3 yr 5 yr
Oct-08 Oct-08 Sept-08 Jul-08 Apr-08 Oct-07 Oct-05 Oct-03

FRASER VALLEY BOARD TOWNHOUSE 319,160 202.9 -2.1 -2.6 -4.4 -0.4 29.9 66.8

NORTH SURREY GUILDFORD 294,474 252.4 0.3 -1.4 -3.3 1.9 38.6 92.8

SURREY 318,898 197.9 -1.3 -2.8 -3.4 0.8 32.4 67.3

SURREY FLEETWOOD 349,836 186.6 -1.8 -4.4 -3.6 1.3 27.4 58.3
SURREY OTHER 306,120 203.1 -1.1 -2.0 -3.4 0.6 34.7 71.4

SOUTH SURREY & WHITE ROCK 442,414 186.9 1.0 -0.3 -2.5 -2.1 25.9 55.7

LANGLEY 318,284 202.0 -1.9 -0.5 -4.9 1.6 29.0 64.9

ABBOTSFORD 272,175 201.0 -5.9 -6.3 -6.9 -4.1 26.8 64.5

FRASER VALLEY BOARD APARTMENT 245,635 265.1 -3.1 -3.5 -5.5 -1.7 42.1 105.3

NORTH SURREY 243,444 284.5 2.3 -1.2 -3.1 -2.4 48.6 132.0
NORTH SURREY WHALLEY 229,842 290.1 -1.5 -5.8 -6.5 -10.9 34.3 123.2
NORTH SURREY GUILDFORD 255,981 278.9 5.8 3.0 -0.1 5.7 62.5 140.2

SOUTH SURREY WHITE ROCK 334,492 245.7 -6.2 -1.5 -3.0 1.1 41.8 85.4

LANGLEY 231,949 227.8 -5.3 -4.6 -6.9 0.1 32.6 90.8

ABBOTSFORD 208,368 286.2 -5.0 -6.5 -8.8 -4.1 42.1 115.3

FRASER VALLEY BOARD HOUSE W ACREAGE 832,658 246.2 -0.5 4.5 2.5 -0.1 28.0 87.5

SURREY, CLOVERDALE & N. SURREY 1,031,700 290.2 15.3 31.5 12.1 18.9 42.3 123.6

SOUTH SURREY & WHITE ROCK N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

LANGLEY 825,309 237.3 -16.3 -8.2 -7.5 -2.8 18.8 70.2

ABBOTSFORD 891,150 252.7 13.4 2.5 30.9 -15.1 40.8 110.0

MISSION 575,265 232.0 3.6 -2.8 -6.4 -1.8 30.6 74.2

Housing Price Index

The Housing Price Index numbers estimate the percentage change in price on a “typical” and constant-quality
property over time. All indices equal 100 in 2001. An index of 120 indicates a 20% increase in price since 2001.
 Sales, Listings & Active Inventory, All Types, Fraser Valley

Overestimated actives 2007/2008* Actives Listings Sales

14,000

12,000

10,000

8,000

6,000

4,000

2,000

0
2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008
* Active listings were over-reported from January 2007 to April 2008. The darker blue area shows the amount the active listings were over-reported.

© Fraser Valley Real Estate Board

 Sales-to-Active Listings Ratio, All Types, Fraser Valley

45

40

35

30

25 Sellers Market

20 Balanced Market

15 Buyers Market

10

Ratio in
5
October: 7%
0
2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008
* Active listings inventory was over-reported from January 2007 to April 2008. As a result, the ratio calculated slightly lower than in actuality.
The darker blue area shows the correctly adjusted ratio for that period.

© Fraser Valley Real Estate Board

 Housing Price Index, Fraser Valley

HPI - Detached HPI -Townhouse HPI - Apartment

300

275

250

225
Housing Price Index value

200

175

150

125

100

75

50

25

0
2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008
© Fraser Valley Real Estate Board
 Benchmark Price, By Type, Fraser Valley

Apartment Townhouse Detached

$600,000

$500,000

$400,000

$300,000

$200,000

$100,000

$0
2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008
© Fraser Valley Real Estate Board
 $100,000
$200,000
$300,000
$400,000
$500,000
$600,000

$0
1979

1980

1981

1982

1983

1984

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001
Average Price, residential detached homes, all Fraser Valley

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008
 Sales, Listings & Average Price, All Types, Fraser Valley

Sales New Listings Average Price

40,000 $450,000

$400,000
35,000

$350,000
30,000

$300,000
25,000

$250,000

20,000

$200,000

15,000
$150,000

10,000
$100,000

5,000
$50,000

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