Abbotsford Mission Real Estate Prices Hit Hardest In Lower Mainland

By Mike Archer. While real estate sales have been steadily sliding in the Fraser Valley for more than 12 months, house prices have stubbornly resisted a natural and corresponding response to the drop in sales.

Except in Abbotsford and Mission. Real Estate prices in January in Abbotsford and Mission have been hit hardest according to statistics released by the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board (FVREB).

Sales in January dropped to the second lowest figures recorded in the last 13 years according to the FVREB. The sales decline has been consistent for more than 12 months.

In January prices in Abbotsford and Mission reacted to the consistent drop in sales by falling. The fall in prices doesn’t seem to have had any impact on the steady decline in sales.

Home Sales Drop To 2nd Lowest Level In 13 Years

A total of 617 sales were processed through the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board’s Multiple Listing Service (MLS®) in January, a decrease of 23 per cent compared to 799 sales during the same month last year. January 2013 ranks as the second slowest for that month in the last thirteen years, second only to January 2009 during the global recession

While prices in most of the Lower Mainland have remained stubbornly high and have not reacted to the downward pressure of the historic drop in sales, house prices in Abbotsford and Mission have begun to drop significantly.

Those prices stand out in comparison to other communities in the Lower Mainland according to the FVREB.

For the full statistics package on the Fraser Valley simply click on the link below:
Fraser Valley real Estate Stats January 2013

Real Estate Prices

Fraser Valley Real Estate Figures

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Join the discussion 8 Comments

  • Meghann Coughlan says:
    February 21, 2013 at 9:49 am

    I gave up buying here a long time ago. With rents as high as they are, I can’t see how the average working family can afford to save for a down payment. If you’re lucky, you can buy a dump for 300+…. but can you afford the taxes??

  • negativity says:
    February 21, 2013 at 10:58 am

    Hit hardest from what point? You’ve posted the 5 year change but left that part out? I guess when you pick your goal posts you can spin a story anyway you like. MSM and RE based agencies are guilty of this too. There is the benchmark price, average price, YOY price, MOM price, monthly sales, yearly sales, etc, etc, .. to pick from to write a story.

    Jan 2012-2013 Year-Over-Year

    Abbotsford 1.8
    Lower Mainland -1.9

    It will be interesting to watch the greater vancouver market that had a huge runup after the 2008-09 mini-crash. Abbotsford/Chilliwack/Missions did not see these rebound gains and have remained relatively flat since. This has caused a huge gap in prices between the FV and GV areas.

    Single Family Detached house (benchmark)

    2008
    Abbotsford $429,000 (median)
    Greater Vancouver $742,000

    2012
    Abbotsford $407,000
    Greater Vancouver $1,034,000

    2013
    Abbotsford $417,000
    Greatever Vancouver $901,000

    Stats are from regvb and fvreb monthly stat packs. IMO when I see those stats I don’t see “hardest” hit in the lower mainland, but stability. I believe your article was written to confuse or generate more negative news about the City since that problably drives traffic and ad clicks. Just my opinion..

  • The Editor says:
    February 21, 2013 at 3:40 pm

    Thanks for adding to the conversation negativity. You’re absolutely correct, we may have narrowed our focus too much. Your points are well taken.

    Rest assured, our intent is not to confuse or generate negative news but to try to, in some small fashion, counter the endless positive spin on life in Abbotsford served up by the chain-owned media who won’t even report on real estate sales and prices, housing starts, unemployment figures or building permit values.

    We hope, by having the conversation about these issues, people will be able to find out what is actually happening in their community.

    Thanks for helping that happen.

    Mike Archer

  • The Editor says:
    February 21, 2013 at 3:53 pm

    Hey .. negativity

    Help me out. I opened up the link to the stats package in the story looked at the info again on the other end of the table (January) and found this:

    Residential Combined
    Lower Mainland -0.3
    Abbotsford – 1.1
    Mission + 0.8

    Detached
    Lower Mainland – 0.1
    Abbotsford -0.9
    Mission + 0.5

    Townhouse
    Lower Mainland -0.4
    Abbotsford – 3.4
    Mission – +1.3

    Apartment
    Lower Mainland – 0.6
    Abbotsford + 0.4
    Mission + 3.5

    Does that not mean that, in Residential Combined,Detached and Townhouses Abbotsford’s prices are dropping lower than the average for the Lower Mainland?

    If I’m interpreting the figures wrong I need to know.

    Cheers
    Mike

  • negativity says:
    February 22, 2013 at 9:43 am

    Perhaps what threw me off with your story was looking at year over year sales data and comparing it to the 5 year price change.

    In your last comment you are refering to a single month over month change. One month represents a trend? Secondly, yes it means the HPI in Abbotsford dropped greater than the average, for the month of January 2013, but your conclusion and article title says “hit hardest in the lower mainland”. A litle misleading…

  • The Editor says:
    February 22, 2013 at 10:28 am

    Hey negativity,
    Fair enough. In retrospect, we may have been anticipating a substantial price drop and thought we had found it and that it was beginning. You’re correct – one month does not a trend make 🙂

    We got a bunch of other instructive comments on the post and the issue here: http://www.abbotsfordtoday.ca/what-do-you-think-are-we-being-too-negative/

    Thanks
    Mike

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