Benchmark prices in Tri-Cities’ housing market largely unchanged from start of 2024

Real estate prices in the Tri-Cities spiked at the midpoint of 2024, but ended up roughly equivalent to their starting position, according to the year-end report from Greater Vancouver Realtors (GVR).

Benchmark prices across all property types declined 1 percent in Coquitlam, bumped 1.4 percent in Port Coquitlam and declined 0.6 percent in Port Moody; Metro Vancouver’s overall prices were similarly stagnant, dipping 0.1 percent.

GVR stated that a significant jump in Metro Vancouver’s December sales could signal a return to, “demand-side momentum.”

“Looking back on 2024, it could best be described as a pivot year for the market after experiencing such dramatic increases in mortgage rates in the preceding years,” said Andrew Lis, GVR’s director of economics and data analytics. “With borrowing costs now firmly on the decline, buyers have started to show up in numbers after somewhat of a hiatus – and this renewed strength is now clearly visible in the more recent monthly data.”

Total residential sales across the region totalled 26,561 in 2024, which is a 1.2 percent increase from sales in 2023, but a 9.2 percent decrease from the highs of 2022.

GVR noted that 2024’s sales were 20.9 percent below the 10-year average.

In the Tri-Cities, sales for the year totalled 3,681, roughly equivalent to sales in 2023, and a 3.8 percent dip from 2022.

The number of new listings in the region, on the other hand, have increased dramatically since 2023’s totals: 60,388 new listings in 2024 represented an 18.7 percent increase compared to 2023, a 9.7 percent increase from 2022, and 5.7 percent above the 10-year average.

The total number of listings reached 10,948, 25.3 percent above the 10-year seasonal average.

Lis said that sales activity in 2024 had a slow start, noting benchmark prices peaked halfway through the year, before dropping . He pointed out that most property types saw year-over-year increases of a couple points, with the exception of apartment units, which were “roughly flat.”

But new data from December’s sales show that 2025 could have considerably more activity than the previous years, according to Lis.

“Disappointingly, sales came in shy of our forecasted target for the year, but the December figures signal an emerging pattern of strength in home sales, building on the momentum seen in previous months,” Lis said. “These more recent sales figures are now trending back towards long-term historical averages, which suggests there may still be quite a bit of potential upside for sales as we head into 2025, should the recent strength continue.”

Residentials sales across the region in December totalled 1,765, a 31.2 percent increase from the month’s sales in 2023, but still 14.9 percent below the 10-year seasonal average.

The same trend, however, was not seen in the Tri-Cities, with sales December 2024 sales dropping 33 percent from November.

The region’s sales-to-active listing ratio was at 16.8 percent for the month, which if sustained over several months, could mean upward pressure on prices, according to GVR.

Coquitlam	Benchmark price	1 month change	3 month change	6 month change	1 year change
Single-family	$1,772,700	0.2%	-2.3%	-3.8%	-1.0%
Townhomes	$1,071,600	1.4%	0.0%	-1.2%	4.5%
Apartments	$728,700	0 0.0%	0.3%	-2.4%	1.7%

Port Coquitlam	Benchmark price	1 month change	3 month change	6 month change	1 year change
Single-family	$1,379,500	-0.9%	-2.8%	-3.1%	0.6%
Townhomes	$940,700	0.5%	4.5%	-1.0%	3.4%
Apartments	$631,700	0.8%	-1.4%	-2.4%	4.1%

Port Moody	Benchmark price	1 month change	3 month change	6 month change	1 year change
Single-family	$2,095,800	0.5%	-5.5%	-4.0%	0.8%
Townhomes	$1,030,700	0.4%	-2.8%	-1.7%	0.7%
Apartments	$752,100	-0.4%	-0.8%	-1.1%	3.7%