I’ve been obsessed with real estate statistics a lot longer than I’ve been a licensed agent. I’ll never forget the day when the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board approved my membership after passing my real estate exam in 2010 and I suddenly had access to so much more data than I ever had. I’ve never lost this nerdy obsession. Almost 15 years later, I still wait excitedly for our information packages from the board. 

It isn’t data for it’s own sake that interests me. It’s the objective stories the numbers tell. Yes, anecdotal evidence from my own experience, as well as my colleagues, helps. Yet the data is what backs up what we are “feeling” on the ground. We can also take the hard data, interpret the trends and use that information to appropriately guide our clients. Here is the truth: any gifted salesperson in the industry can fly by the seat of their pants, hype up a presale project, or convince someone to buy or sell because, well, it’s how we make a living. However, it takes someone who not only truly cares about your interests (we all at least tell ourselves this), but can also genuinely translate what the numbers show us. The reason that I review every council meeting in the Fraser Valley, every provincial building permit statistics made publicly available, and make sure that I am alerted to even the most minuscule changes to the data: it’s to serve you and to do my best to make sure that as many homeowners (and renters) are appropriately, and ethically, informed.

This review will focus primarily on Langley because it allows me to go a bit deeper than I could if I spread myself out throughout the Valley. However, if you are interested in Surrey, White Rock, Abbotsford, or Chilliwack real estate information, please feel free to reach out to me directly.

2024 was a year of both transition as well as stability in Langley and throughout the Fraser Valley. Inflation outpaced the benchmark values on all three major housing types in the region. However, despite 5 consecutive interest rate drops, home values continued to drop throughout the second half of 2024 after seeing some increase in spring. When it comes to sales figures, which REALTORS probably care more than the general public, there were some improvements in 2024 over 2023’s disheartening statistics, especially with townhomes - but more on that below.

DETACHED HOMES

The Langleys had only nominal value gains when taken as a whole, with only Willoughby showing any annual increase almost comparable to inflation. Walnut Grove was the only neighbourhood to lose value, albeit only be a nominal amount. The greatest disparity between Langleys neighbourhoods can be seen in the number of sales. The Township’s two largest communities of Willoughby and Walnut Grove, plus Aldergrove all had significant recoveries compared to 2023 sale numbers. Meanwhile, Langley City, Murrayville and Fort Langley all had more decreases in the sales figures.

A deeper look into the year shows a nuanced storyline, and not one that lines up with what we would expect. Between January and May, the typical Langley home value rose by 4.7%. The general feeling on the ground was pretty positive within the industry. Yet, the sales to listing ratio, which best defines the supply-to-demand in the region, and the benchmark values both dropped throughout the summer months, despite two interest rate cuts in June and July. Unlike sales in the USA, the summer tends to have the most sales in most Canadian markets, but no dice for 2024. Values did see a bump in August, but it was downhill from there. Langley’s detached home market would lose -2.5% of value between August and December, even though the Bank of Canada would cut rates three more times by 1.25 basis points.

So what’s the story? My opinion is that there is a balance between a overall lack of confidence in the marketplace while a continued anxiety about price points for detached homes. Unfortunately for many homeowners, it is likely that their home value may currently (as of this month at least) be less than what is on their 2025 BC Tax Assessment this year - which is probably not something they are use to. Even with increased support by the provincial and federal governments for secondary suites, the price point for a basic detached home is, frankly, out of line with what the average Langley resident can afford. Unless apartment and townhome prices significantly increase to allow for those homeowners to jump to a detached home, OR the federal government allows for foreign ownership again, there isn’t really any mechanism for prices to rise. Keep in mind that my analysis are not value statements. Whether or not our governments should incentivize or restrain housing prices is a political question that is above my pay grade. However, if the goal was to mitigate rising home prices for 2024 despite reduced interest rates, the government more or less did their job. All that said, there are signs that the market has been in a slow recovery since November and the most recent interest rate drop may be inspiring buyers to come back. Something tells me that we will see some numbers shift this January and February.

Looking to buy a detached home in Langley? Browse the detached home market here (NO signup required).

TOWNHOMES

The Township of Langley townhome market experienced steady sales growth compared to a dismal 2023, which was among the lowest in recent history. The City of Langley, however, continued to see townhome sales decline, which is somewhat expected as the City has more focus on apartments. Without new construction numbers to boost sales figures, this number expectedly decreases in a softer market. Similar to detached homes, there was very little difference between December 2023 and December 2024 townhome values.

The two neighbourhoods that bucked the trend were Aldergrove’s entry level market and Fort Langley high end market. Both neighbourhoods not only had values increase by over 5% over the year, but they also had significantly sales volume boosts. As they are low inventory communities, these numbers do have a tendency to fluctuate greater than others. In the case of Fort Langley, the new “Leah” development by Conwest counted for over half of Fort Langley’s townhome sales. 

Willoughby accounted for just shy of 65% of all Township of Langley MLS townhome sales, which is pretty much identical to its proportion in 2023. I do also want to make it clear that these a benchmark values, which means we are not comparing apple to apples within the townhome market. These figures represent the TYPICAL townhome in each individual neighbourhood. A $887,700 townhome in Willoughby is very different than a $625,500 townhome in Aldergrove. Each neighbourhood has it’s own definition of a benchmark home.

The 2024 timeline for Langley’s townhomes differed a bit from detached homes, but shared some similar trends. Although we didn’t really see a spring bump, there was a steady incline from the first quarter, where the typical townhome was around $858,000, to August when the peak value reached almost $885,000. However, from there on out, values fell by almost -2.5% in 4 months. So just like detached homes, this drop in the second half of the year means your BC Assessment value might be higher than your current market value. However, I need to stress that this is based on conservative benchmark figures and we have seen signs in the past two months that prices are on the rebound. Although the sales to listing ratio bounced around all year, it never once dropped into a “balanced market”, much less a “buyers market” territory. This means that although sales were relatively low, so was the inventory, which kept prices from sliding too much.

Looking to buy a townhome (or rowhome) in Langley? Browse the townhome market here (NO signup required).

APARTMENTS

A similar story is found with Langley’s apartment market over the course of 2024. There was less than a 1% appreciation in the benchmark value in the Langley between December 2023 and December 2024. Langley’s most affordable neighbourhood, Aldergrove, experienced the most gains, at +3.3%, but still remains under the $500k threshold. The overall Langley apartment market did peak early on in March, jumping from under $595,000 in December 2023 to over $620k in March. Although the market held steady through the middle of the year, values started declining in the summer. Values from from $618k in July back down to where we started the year off, just under $600,000.

Almost every neighbourhood had a decrease in sales figures, with the exception of Aldergrove and Murrayville. Brookswood doesn’t count because there aren’t any sales… yet. Aldergrove’s percentage jump may seem impressive until you realize that’s just an increase from 14 sales to 17. Murrayville’s bump of almost 40% is a bit more interesting, since there were no new builds included in that number and over half of the sales were for units in 20-50 year old buildings.Willoughby made up 78.3% of the Township of Langley apartment sales, which is almost identical to 2023’s 78.9%. 

Similarly to what I’ve written about detached homes and townhomes, the fact that values fell in the second half of the year likely means that many BC Assessments, which are based on sales and values from the first half of 2023, will be higher than the current market value. Sales have been falling steadily since August and, unlike the other housing types, Langley apartments did not experience a sales bump in October/November. 

Looking to buy an apartment in Langley? Browse the apartment market here (NO signup required).

NEW CONSTRUCTION

Sales data for new construction isn’t as reliable because many sales are done off the MLS and there isn’t a definitive database that tracks every sale. Some new home marketing firms, such as MLA Canada, are fairly transparent and informative with their research, but I personally can’t rely on any one source. I also don’t find the MLS data on new construction helpful since it really is up to each marketing firm how many, if any, units they decide to put on the MLS. However, I think it’s important to analyze building permits in the Township and City of Langley so they we have a good understanding of what’s coming in the future. 

*I’m still waiting on the final City of Langley building statistics, so I will update this section once I receive those figures.

The Township of Langley issued 2,493 residential building permits in 2024, an increase of +33.8% over 2023’s figures. This isn’t a shocker, considering 2023 was the lowest number of permits since 2018. 2024 was +8% over the 5 year average (2019-2023).

The number of detached homes and secondary suites did experience reductions in 2024, -10% for detached and -22.8% for suites. Multifamily (townhomes & apartments) were up +71.3% compared to 2023. The 1,842 units was the second highest year for multifamily permits issued (the highest was 2,215 units in 2019).

LOOKING FORWARD TO 2025

Most industry experts are expecting sales volume increases throughout the province for 2025. The expert I generally trust most over the last few years has been the British Columbia Real Estate Association’s Chief Economist, Brendon Ogmundson, who has been pretty spot on since he took over the role in 2019. In the BCREA’s November report, the outlook suggested a +12.7% province-wide increase in sales with a +3.3% increase in average values. The Fraser Valley is expected to have a +14.3% jump in sales with a more muted +1.5% increase in average values. Attached townhomes are expected to outpace other housing types in both metrics.

Notably, Ogmundson and the BCREA also predict another decrease (-5.1%) in housing starts in 2025, which is running contrary with the province’s goals, but is a reality of the high risk, high cost, volatile presale market. Relative weak condo prices in the face of high development costs and stubborn landowners will inevitably keep new development units low.

In a late November presentation that Ogmundson gave to Fraser Valley Realtors, he did admit that any optimism about 2025 and beyond should be tempered by the implementation of Trump’s tariffs. He provided a host of best case to worse case scenarios.

CONTACT US

Brad Richert, Associate Broker

Brad is your local real estate nerd for residential and commercial real estate throughout Langley and the Lower Mainland.

For a free, no pressure, no obligation home evaluation and/or property purchase strategy, contact Brad:

Phone: 778-240-4239 (text/whatsapp ok)

Email: brad@langleyhomes.ca

According to a recent report, one real estate company is predicting that British Columbia's ski resort real estate market is poised for a significant upswing in 2025.

After a period of declining prices through 2024, the Royal Lepage 2024 Winter Recreational Property Report is forecasting an 8.5% increase in single-family home prices for 2025. Big White, near Kelowna, anticipates a 5% rise, while Whistler expects a 9% surge. The report cites such factors as exemptions from short-term rental restrictions and the foreign buyer ban as well as a strong U.S. dollar, are the cause for driving renewed interest. 

I don’t know anything about the ski resort real estate market, but I’m lucky enough to have many great colleagues who know those areas well. Over on my instagram page, I just posted an interview I had with two Real Broker agents who live and work in the Big White Ski Resort area near Kelowna. I highly recommend that you check it out.

If you are interested in purchasing property in Whistler, Sun Peak, Big White or any of the other ski resorts around the province, shoot me an email at brad@langleyhomes.ca and I’ll connect you with the absolute best in the business!

🎒✨ Attention Langley Parents! ✨🎒
Are you ready for your little one’s big milestone? Kindergarten registration for the 2025-2026 school year opens this upcoming Monday, January 6, 2025! 🌟

If your child was born in 2020 and turns five by December 31, 2025, it’s time to get them signed up for a new adventure. Registration is completely online and runs until Tuesday, February 18, 2025.

📋 What you’ll need:
✔️ Proof of your child’s age
✔️ Proof of parent or guardian’s citizenship status
✔️ Proof of residence
✔️ Proof of guardianship

📲 Visit the Langley School District website for full details and a checklist of required documents to make the process easy!  

If you’re a new Langley resident with children OLDER than Kindegarten, be sure check your catchment with this tool and register your child(ren) here. Also, for Willoughby parents, make sure you read the district’s December 2024 letter about catchment updates here.

TOWNSHIP & CITY OF LANGLEY MARKET UPDATE

The Langley market experienced a bit of a statistical departure in July from the rest of the Fraser Valley, with two housing types - detached and apartments - holding steady, and one - townhomes - actually seeing an increase in value midway through summer.

Detached Homes

Based on 298 July sales in the Langleys (down slightly from 301 in June), the benchmark detached home value fell slightly from $1,637,500 to $1,635,100. July’s benchmark figure is an increase of +1.0% over this time last year. Detached home and homes with acreages represented 29.2% of sales in July. The sales to listing ratio fell from 21% in June to 16.1%, the lowest its been since December 2023. This represents 4.6 months worth of inventory and is considered buy most thresholds as a “buyers market”. The number of active detached home listings reached 477 at the end of the month, which is the highest we’ve seen since June 2019 (487).

Townhomes

After two months of declining sales for Langley’s townhomes, July actually saw a sharp spike to 106 sales (up from 86 in June). This helped boost the benchmark price from $872,600 to $878,900, which represents an increase of +2.9% vs last July. Unlike the detached home market, the sales to listing ratio rose solidly in sellers’ favour, from 32.1% in June to 41.9% in July (or 2.4 months of inventory). The average sales price jumped to $907,165 in July, which when compared with the benchmark price, suggests that townhomes on the higher end of the market is what is selling. This is likely due to larger townhomes being the natural replacement for detached homes. Townhomes represent almost 36% of all Langley sales, which is the largest market segment.

Apartment

Langley’s apartment market has been stagnant since around March, when the benchmark price jumped from around $610,000 to $620,000. Since then, the benchmark value as floated between $618,000 and $620,000. July’s $618,300 value is +1.2% more than 12 months earlier. The number of sales declined from 104 in June to 95 in July, while the number of total listings remained steady at 397. This caused the sales to listing ratio to fall from 26.1% to 23.9%, or 4.2 months of inventory, which is considered a weak sellers market. The average price per square foot for Langley apartments remains stable at $687. Broken down into Langley’s two largest apartment markets, the average price per square foot in Willoughby is $728 (-1.5% vs 2023) and $629 in Langley City (+9.0% v 2023). Apartments represent almost 32% of all sales in Langley.