The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board (FVREB) processed 1,704 sales on its Multiple Listing Service (MLS) in October, an increase of 122 per cent compared to the 768 sales during the same month last year.

“We’ve had a reversal. Last October was unseasonably slow and now this past month was one of the strongest real estate markets we’ve had in the Fraser Valley in the last decade,” said FVREB President, Paul Penner.

“We continued to see resale buyers from Greater Vancouver and first-time buyers from all over the Lower Mainland taking advantage of competitive interest rates and lower prices in the Fraser Valley.”

Although the MLSLink Housing Price Index (HPI) benchmark price of all three residential property types combined has increased by 7.4 per cent in the last six months in the Fraser Valley, prices for each property type remain at or below what they were one year ago.

The benchmark price of a detached home in October was $491,128, an increase of 0.4 per cent compared to October 2008, when it was $488,983.

The benchmark price of townhouses decreased 2.1 per cent from $319,160 in October 2008 to $312,339 last month. The benchmark price of apartments also decreased year-over-year by 2.3 per cent, going from $245,635 in October of last year to $240,048 in October 2009.

“We expect to see prices remain competitive in the Fraser Valley,” added Penner. “Even during our unusually busy summer, prices were sensitive to location and property type.”

Although Fraser Valley’s MLS received seven per cent more new listings in October than it did in September, the strength in October’s sales reduced overall inventory.

In October 2009, Fraser Valley property hunters had 8,807 listings to choose from, compared to 11,715 in October last year – a decrease of 25 per cent.

The FVREB is an association of 2,959 real estate professionals who work in the communities of North Delta, Surrey, White Rock, Langley, Abbotsford, and Mission.