BUYERS TAKE ‘WAIT AND SEE’ APPROACH FOR SINGLE FAMILY HOMES; CONDOS HOLDING THEIR OWN (Surrey, BC) – For the second month in a row, property sales on the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board’s Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) have decreased to historically low levels. In September, a total of 857 sales were processed on the MLS®, a decrease of 26 per cent compared to 1,165 sales in September 2011 and 20 per cent fewer than in August. Scott Olson is the president of the Board. “Our market was very stable up until July and then within two months it changed. “The federal government’s tightening of mortgage rules this past spring may be having an effect. We’ve seen this pattern before when rules have changed and hopefully given the strength of our local economy and stability of interest rates, this slowdown will be short term.” Olson adds that properties offering more affordability remain in demand. “Sales of more expensive homes – single family detached – have decreased disproportionately more than the sales of townhomes and apartments. In fact, apartment sales last month in Surrey, Langley and White Rock were higher or comparable to September of last year keeping prices across the Fraser Valley resilient.” Over the last three months, prices for all three residential property types combined have decreased by 0.4 per cent while year over year they’ve increased by 2.1 per cent. For single family detached homes, the benchmark price increased by 3 per cent in one year, going from $533,400 in September 2011 to $549,500 last month. For townhouses, the benchmark price in September was $300,500, a decrease of 1.7 per cent compared to $305,700 during the same month last year. The benchmark price of apartments in Fraser Valley in September was $207,000, an increase of 4.1 per cent compared …