Property sales in the Fraser Valley were up 9% year-on-year and up 6% on April's figures according to the latest stats released by the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board. The Board processed 1,608 property sales on its Multiple Listing Service (MLS®) in May, compared to 1,516 sales the previous month, and 1,477 in May 2010.

Apart from sales being up month-on-month, active listings were also up with a 2.9% increase on April with 9,978 active property listings in May compared to 9,697. New listings also showed an increase, with 3,070 new listings in May, up 5.2% on April.

Despite monthly numbers increasing for both active and new listings, the year-on-year figures for both were both down--there were 12.6% fewer active listings than there were active during May 2010, and the Board received 11.2% less new listings than received in May 2010.

The theme of the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board's press release was "variation". "Fraser Valley Housing Market Shows Local Variation" was the actual full title of the release, and with the increases and decreases mentioned throughout the piece, this was a pretty good headline.

Another part of the Fraser Valley real estate variation is home prices. The benchmark prices for detached homes increased year-on-year, yet decreased on April numbers. Benchmark prices are the estimated sale price of a benchmark property, and represent a typical property within each market. The benchmark price for Fraser Valley detached homes was $529,810 in May 2011, up 2.8% on May 2010 numbers. May’s average price for detached homes, also increased on May 2010 numbers--up 11.6% to $630,870. The Board said this was "influenced by the sale of higher-end homes or homes with larger lots".

While detached home prices showed increases, attached home prices, such as for townhouses decreased both on a monthly and yearly level. The benchmark price of Fraser Valley townhomes decreased by 1.1% from $328,295 in May 2010 to $324,730 this year. Apartments prices too saw a decrease in the benchmark price, with a 0.5% decrease on May 2010 numbers--from $252,221 down to $250,988.

Different areas of the Fraser Valley saw variation in home sale and listings levels too, with Abbotsford seeing decreases across the board year-on-year, whereas Surrey North seen increases in both listings and prices across the board.

According to the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board's Housing Price Index, the benchmark price for a detached properties in Fraser Heights was $741,181, an increase of 3.1% monthly and 3.9% yearly. For other areas of Surrey or the Fraser Valley see the full press release at the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board website.