FVREB SURREY, BC – After five months of successive increases, real estate sales in the Fraser Valley dropped in response to a combination of continued rising interest rates and the summer sales cycle. The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board processed 1,368 sales in July on its Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®), a decrease of 29.3 per cent below June, but still 37.8 per cent above July 2022. July new listings, at 2,855, were also down by 16.6 per cent compared to last month but 19.7 per cent higher than July 2022 levels, and virtually on par with the ten-year average. Active listings continued to climb, increasing by 4.3 per cent over June, bringing the total inventory available for sale in the region to 6,199.

Summer is usually a slower period in the real estate sector and coupled with higher interest rates we’re seeing less traffic and fewer multiple offers as buyers and sellers re-evaluate their moving plans. In changing markets there is always opportunity; the Fraser Valley Market for detached...

On January 1, 2023 the government introduced a cooling off period for buyers, a home buyer protection period, that allows home buyers three business days to back out of an accepted offer.

Key Points about the home buyer rescission period:

• The period will be effective January 1, 2023.
• Buyers will have three business days following the accepted offer date to back out of a residential purchase agreement.
• The period is mandatory and can’t be waived by the parties to the contract.
• Buyers who back out of a contract within this three-day period will have to pay a rescission fee of 0.25% of the purchase price ($250 per $100,000)
• The rescission fee is paid to the seller.

The home buyer rescission period applies to following property types:

• Detached homes
• Semi-detached homes
• Townhouses
• Apartments in a duplex or other multi-unit dwelling
• Strata lots
• Manufactured homes affixed to land
• Co-operative interest that include right of use or occupation of dwelling.

There are a few types of properties...