Chilliwack's cheaper apartments have not led the sales recovery

The spring rebound did not reach every segment

Chilliwack’s more affordable apartments have not led the recovery in sales. The May board report described an improving market, yet apartment transactions were unchanged from a year earlier. The retained second-quarter figures reinforce that distinction: apartments had 8.7 months of inventory, compared with five months for townhouses. Lower purchase prices did not translate into tighter resale conditions. [CADREB May market report] [CREA Chilliwack and District market conditions]

These figures cover the Chilliwack and District board area. Months of inventory compares homes for sale with the prevailing sales pace; it does not tell an individual owner how long a sale will take. That distinction matters here. Detached homes that sold during the second quarter did so faster than a year earlier, even while detached inventory increased. A quick sale among successful listings can coexist with plenty of unsold competition. [CREA Chilliwack and District market conditions]

The summer evidence still favours a cautious reading

August offers little support for a broad apartment rebound. Both the board’s summary and its detailed sheet show apartment sales falling by more than half from August 2025. They disagree on the exact count, so the precise percentage is left out. Townhouse sales, by contrast, increased in both versions. The small number of apartment transactions makes a single month volatile, but the direction fits the weakness already visible in the retained spring records. [CADREB August market summary] [CADREB August detailed statistics] [CADREB May market report] [CREA Chilliwack and District market conditions]

There is a credible counterweight. Chilliwack’s July employment report shows improvement in full-time work. It uses seasonally adjusted three-month averages, so it is evidence of a firmer recent labour-market trend, not a count of people hired during July. If that improvement persists, it could support household confidence. It does not establish that the households gaining work are apartment buyers. [CREA Chilliwack employment trends]

Why a general demand lift is still uncertain

British Columbia’s first-quarter migration figures also caution against assuming a province-wide population tailwind. Net arrivals from other provinces were outweighed by a negative international component. That is provincial evidence, not a measurement of Chilliwack’s population: moves within BC could produce a different local result. Nationally, the Bank of Canada held its overnight target at 2.25% in September and reported higher longer-term bond yields since July. A steady policy rate does not guarantee that fixed mortgage offers will improve. [CREA British Columbia migration] [Bank of Canada September rate decision]

The forecast through March 2027 is for apartments to retain more negotiating room than townhouses across the board area, provided employment gains do not turn into a much stronger wave of apartment purchases. This is a moderate-confidence view of relative market conditions, not a numerical price forecast. It follows from a recovery that repeatedly bypassed apartments, rather than an assumption that all lower-priced homes behave alike. [CREA Chilliwack and District market conditions] [CADREB May market report] [CADREB August market summary] [CADREB August detailed statistics] [CREA Chilliwack employment trends] [CREA British Columbia migration] [Bank of Canada September rate decision]

The clearest test will be whether the apartment inventory gap narrows while sales recover, rather than because owners withdraw listings. Several months of stronger apartment turnover, supported by sustained full-time employment gains, would weaken the forecast. A seller can then distinguish a genuine improvement in demand from an apparently better ratio created by fewer homes remaining on the market. [CREA Chilliwack and District market conditions] [CREA Chilliwack employment trends]