Over the course of 2024, a total of 41,131 homes were sold across the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, according to newly released annual totals by the two real estate boards that represent the vast majority of the area.
This includes 26,561 homes sold within the jurisdiction of Greater Vancouver Realtors (GVR; formerly known as the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver), representing a 1.2% increase from 2023, a 9.2% decrease from 2022, and 21% below the 10-year annual sales average of 33,559 units.
Meanwhile, the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board (FVREB) recorded 14,570 home sales within its jurisdiction, which is the lowest number of transactions it has seen in 10 years, a decline of 1% compared to 2023, and 24% below the 10-year average.
Both real estate boards represent different areas of Metro Vancouver and the surrounding areas. GVR’s jurisdiction includes not only Vancouver, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, New Westminster, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Richmond, South Delta, Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, and Bowen Island, but also the Sunshine Coast, Squamish, and Whistler.
FVREB represents Surrey, Langley, White Rock, North Delta, Mission, and Abbotsford. According to FVREB, the City of Surrey accounted for 51% of its jurisdiction’s 2024 home sales, followed by Langley with 24% and Abbotsford with 15%.
“Looking back on 2024, it could best be described as a pivot year for the market after experiencing such dramatic increases in mortgage rates in the preceding years. With borrowing costs now firmly on the decline, buyers have started to show up in numbers after somewhat of a hiatus — and this renewed strength is now clearly visible in the more recent monthly data,” said Andrew Lis, director of economics and data analytics for GVR.
Jeff Chadha, chair of the FVREB, added, “2024 marked another subdued year for Fraser Valley home sales on the heels of a 10-year low in 2023. Slight declines in home prices across some areas of the region provided negligible relief for buyers looking to get into the market. At the same time, the modest price adjustments did not discourage sellers from listing.”
But both GVR and FVREB agree that the Bank of Canada’s most recent cuts to the policy interest rate will stimulate a resurgence in demand in 2025, with the bank now clearly in a cycle of cutting the rate. Cuts that began in the middle of 2024 were not enough to make a real dent in last year’s overall activity.
FVREB saw 994 home sales in its jurisdiction in December 2024, representing a drop of 13% from November 2024, but 19% above the volume for December 2023. Within the GVR’s jurisdiction, home sales reached a total of 1,765 units in December 2024, which is a 19% decrease from November 2024, a 31% increase from December 2023, and 15% below the 10-year seasonal average. However, with the holiday season, December is also historically a slower month for home sales.
When it comes to listings over the course of 2024, GVR recorded 60,388, representing an 18.7% increase compared to 2023 and a 9.7% increase from 2022, while FVREB saw 35,698 listings, representing a 10-year high and 9% above the 10-year average.
At the end of 2024, the benchmark home price in GVR reached $1.172 million, with a single-family house at $1.997 million, a townhouse at $1.115 million, and a condominium at $750,000.
Within the Vancouver Westside, the benchmark prices are $3.375 million for a single-family house, $1.527 million for a townhouse, and $819,000 for a condominium. For the Vancouver Eastside, the benchmark prices are $1.856 million for a single-family house, $1.147 million for a townhouse, and $690,000 for a condominium.
For FVREB, the benchmark price reached $1.48 million for a single-family house, $828,000 for a townhouse, and $534,000 for a condominium. Within Surrey, the benchmark prices are $1.606 million for a single-family house, $854,000 for a townhouse, and $525,000 for a condominium.
“While the Fraser Valley saw overall balanced market conditions for most of 2024, the low levels of buying and selling activity reflected a challenging year for many as would-be buyers waited for affordability to improve. Interest rate cuts by the Bank of Canada along with recent government policies aimed at boosting overall housing supply and improving affordability, should help to increase market conditions in 2025,” said Baldev Gill, CEO of FVREB.
Lis also noted, “These more recent sales figures are now trending back towards long-term historical averages, which suggests there may still be quite a bit of potential upside for sales as we head into 2025, should the recent strength continue… With the data showing renewed strength to finish the year, however, it looks as though the 2025 market is positioned to be considerably more active than we’ve seen in recent years.”