Property sales on the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board’s  Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®)  in September were the third lowest for that month in the last decade, while new listings for September ranked the second highest.

Sukh Sidhu is FVREB’s president. “This is the third month in a row based on the 10-year average where we’ve seen lower sales combined with a higher influx of new listings.”

The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board processed 1,165 sales in September, an increase of 12 per cent compared to the 1,044 sales during the same month last year and a decrease of 13 per cent compared to 1,341 sales in August.

The board posted 2,651 new properties on its MLS® in September, an increase of 10 per cent compared to September of last year and on par with the listings it received in August. The number of active listings in the Fraser Valley remained at 10,096 in September, at an annual high for the last three months.   

Sidhu adds, “This trend is stabilizing home prices in the Fraser Valley resulting in the price of a typical detached home in September being only slightly higher than it was in May.

“Although average prices year-over-year are still showing strong increases or decreases for some communities, make sure to ask your local REALTOR® for the benchmark price as well. It’s the predicted sale price of a typical home in your neighbourhood and unlike the average price, isn’t sensitive to sales of high-end or low-end homes. It’s one of our most reliable pricing tools.”

The benchmark price of a single family detached home in the Fraser Valley in September was $530,321, an increase of 4.5 per cent compared to $507,429 in September 2010 and 0.3 per cent higher than the price in August.

For townhouses, the benchmark price in September was $327,546, an increase of 1.8 per cent compared to the same month last year and unchanged with the price in August. The benchmark price of apartments in September was $243,420, an increase of 1.6 per cent compared to September 2010 and down 0.9 per cent compared to August.

So I recently took clients out to view some townhomes for his first home buyer experience.  There were some questions as to what area they wanted so I showed them some picks from newton, Sullivan station, Cloverdale and clayton.  The first home we went to see just did not fit their needs!  It may have been the turquois wall colouring or the bright blue flooring but it was a good indication of what the area provided in terms of price per square foot.  The next townhome we saw horrified us and prompted this blog post.  When we walked in we noticed paint spots in the main entrance way as if someone had gone "Picasso" on the interior and forgotten to lay a paint matt down... or at least some newspaper.  We continued through the home to find many of the faux-pas I have talked about during my blog posts.  The carpets were tan coloured but black from high traffic areas.  Paint had been done most amateur-like with run marks all over floor boards and mouldings.  The place hadn't been dusted in years.  Take care of your home people!  This home was like something out of a nightmare... a book shelf caring an assortment of things that weren't books, jars and such all leaning precariously because the shelf had not been maintenance in a very long time.  The middle bowing like an archer at the last Olympics.  Storage area and living areas unkept with garbage and debris everywhere.  It didn't take long for us to quickly learn this townhome wasn't the house we were looking for but we moved through it nonetheless because sometimes, despite your best efforts, you can't help but keep looking at a car crash... no matter how horrific.  By the time we were done viewing this home, our skin had that creepy crawly feeling you get when you've witnessed something you just weren't meant to see.  I felt compelled to tell the realtor my thoughts.  "This is the worst place we've seen so far... how can your sellers keep a place so unclean?"  Her reply was simply that they had kids, but this was just an excuse since there were many things more problems with this place other than kids.  I told her that if you were going to show a home, at least clean the carpets!  Her reply was that the owner had just had the carpets steam cleaned.  I laughed at her and she became very irate.  I told her "please don't take personal offense to this... but as a realtor you are responsible for the sale of this property, please take this feedback back to your clients.  It still surprises me that people would want to sell their place without putting any pride of work into their product.  It shows a lack of respect for the market and a lack of respect for the savviness of the current buyers.  Your home should be a sparkling show home in order for it to sell in this competitive market.  We can all understand that life keeps people very busy and this may not be a top priority for them but please know that it is directly tied to the sale of your house... and hence should be one of the most important things you do when you list your home... is to keep it sparkling clean.  I have no doubt that this home will sit on the market in real estate purgatory until the RE gods decide it's fate! Needless to say, I showed my clients the next place which was sparkling clean and pristine and they have now written an offer on it and are steps away from buying their new home!