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The Journal · 16 September 2026

Willoughby or Walnut Grove: where would you buy today?

The short answerWalnut Grove if you want the tightest, steadiest house market in Langley and the best-rated schools; Willoughby if you want choice, newer stock and the only neighbourhood where every home type sold more this year than last. Walnut Grove houses carry 3.6 months of supply and fell 4.9%; Willoughby carries 5.2 months and fell 6.9%.
Analysis by Hamish Ross · 16 September 2026 · Data: September 2026 edition (August 2026 data)
The Evidence
MeasureAugust 2026, as read on 5 September
Walnut Grove detached$1,337,600 (−4.9%), 142 sold in 12 months, 3.6 months of supply, 21 median days, 97.6% of ask, $572 a sq ft
Willoughby detached$1,442,200 (−6.9%), 209 sold, 5.2 months, 28 days, 96.8%, $473 a sq ft
Walnut Grove townhome$782,800, 2.6 months of supply, the tightest segment in the township
Willoughby townhome$829,300, 3.8 months, 20 median days, 98.6% of ask

What is happening

They are next to each other and they are not the same market. Willoughby is half of Langley: 1,195 of the township’s 2,471 sales in twelve months, and 101 of its 209 house sales were homes built since 2012. Walnut Grove is older, smaller and tighter: fewer listings, faster sales, the smallest price fall in Langley, and the four highest-rated public elementary schools in the township (Alex Hope, Gordon Greenwood, West Langley, Topham) with the highest-rated catchment secondary.

What it means

Buy in Walnut Grove for a house you will hold and a school you have chosen; expect competition and little room on price. Buy in Willoughby for a newer home with more to choose from, and separate the new-build shelf from resale before you compare prices: the two behave differently.

What we are watching nextWhether Walnut Grove’s 3.6 months of house supply holds through the autumn listings. It is the neighbourhood buyers waited for.
The full answer

Two neighbourhoods, one road, different markets

Willoughby Heights and Walnut Grove sit either side of the freeway and share a school district, a SkyTrain future and a postal code, and their markets have almost nothing in common. Willoughby is half of Langley: 1,195 of the township’s 2,471 sales in the twelve months to August 2026, 209 houses, 523 townhomes and 463 condos, and 101 of those house sales were homes built in 2012 or later. Walnut Grove is older, smaller and tighter: 142 houses, 139 townhomes and 41 condos sold in the year, with the fewest months of supply in Langley for houses (3.6) and townhomes (2.6) and the smallest detached price fall in the township at 4.9%.

Willoughby Heights against Walnut Grove, twelve months to August 2026
MeasureWilloughby HeightsWalnut Grove
Detached benchmark (one year)$1,442,200 (−6.9%)$1,337,600 (−4.9%)
Houses sold, 12 months (vs prior 12)209 (+9%)142 (−10%)
Houses for sale, months of supply91, 5.2 months43, 3.6 months
House median days, sold at % of ask28 days, 96.8%21 days, 97.6%
House price per square foot$473$572
Townhome benchmark (one year)$829,300 (−5.0%)$782,800 (−6.9%)
Townhomes sold, for sale, months523, 165, 3.8 months139, 30, 2.6 months
Townhome median days2029
Condo benchmark (one year)$571,300 (−9.3%)$520,100 (−9.1%)
Condos sold, for sale, months463, 197, 5.1 months41, 15, 4.4 months
Four-bedroom-plus house, median (sales)$1,505,000 (193)$1,421,000 (100)
Top public elementary (Fraser Institute 2025)Willoughby 6.8Alex Hope 8.3, Gordon Greenwood 7.3, West Langley 7.0, Topham 6.9
Catchment secondary (2020)R.E. Mountain 6.0 (122nd of 252)Walnut Grove Secondary 7.6 (41st)

Price: Willoughby costs more per house and less per foot

The Willoughby detached benchmark is $104,600 above Walnut Grove’s, and yet a Willoughby square foot is $99 cheaper: $473 against $572. Willoughby houses are newer and bigger; Walnut Grove houses are older and smaller on more established lots. The four-bedroom-plus house tells the same story: a median $1,505,000 in Willoughby on 193 sales against $1,421,000 in Walnut Grove on 100. If you price by the door, Walnut Grove is cheaper. If you price by the foot, Willoughby is. Decide which one you are buying before you compare.

Pace: Walnut Grove is the market buyers waited for

Walnut Grove houses carry 3.6 months of supply, sold in a median 21 days and closed at 97.6% of ask, the tightest, quickest and closest-to-ask house market in Langley. Its townhomes carry 2.6 months, the tightest segment anywhere in the township. Willoughby houses carry 5.2 months, sold in 28 days at 96.8%; its townhomes carry 3.8 months and sold in a median 20 days at 98.6% of ask, which is fast, but on a shelf of 165 rather than 30. Walnut Grove sales fell 10% on the year for houses and 16% for townhomes because there was less to buy, not less appetite; Willoughby is the only neighbourhood where all three home types sold more in the last three months than a year earlier (houses 61 against 52, townhomes 153 against 131, condos 114 against 100).

Schools: the four best-rated public elementaries are on one side

In the Fraser Institute’s 2025 elementary report card (2023/24 results, 1,015 BC schools ranked) the four highest-rated public elementary schools in Langley are all in Walnut Grove: Alex Hope 8.3 (101st of 1,015), Gordon Greenwood 7.3, West Langley 7.0 and Topham 6.9, with Dorothy Peacock at 6.4. Walnut Grove Secondary rates 7.6 (41st of 252 in the 2020 secondary report card), the highest-rated catchment secondary in the township; only Langley Fundamental, a choice programme open to any address, rates higher at 7.8. Willoughby Elementary rates 6.8 (287th) and R.E. Mountain 6.0 (122nd). Ratings describe test results, not teaching, and the pairing with the market is an observation, not proof; but the neighbourhood with the best school scores is the one whose houses moved fastest, closest to ask, and fell least.

Stock: new against established

Willoughby delivered 101 of Langley’s 180 sales of houses built since 2012 and 152 of its townhome sales in the year were new builds, which cleared at a median 100% of list in 15 days at $606 a square foot against $508 for resale. A Willoughby buyer is choosing between a new-build shelf and a resale shelf that behave differently, and should separate them before comparing prices. Walnut Grove built its newest thing some years ago; what you buy there is what is there, on a lot that is not getting another neighbour.

Where would we buy today?

For a house you will hold for a decade with a catchment chosen in advance, Walnut Grove, and expect competition and little room on price; its 4.9% fall is the smallest in Langley and its supply is the thinnest. For a newer home with more to choose from, a four-bedroom townhome at a median $931,000 (175 sold), or a first house under the benchmark, Willoughby, with the new-build and resale shelves priced separately. For a condo, Willoughby has the choice (197 for sale) and Walnut Grove the scarcity (15). The honest answer to “which is better” is which trade you are making: Walnut Grove sells certainty and schools, Willoughby sells choice and square feet.

Questions people ask

Is Walnut Grove more expensive than Willoughby?

By the house, no: the Walnut Grove detached benchmark is $1,337,600 against $1,442,200 in Willoughby. By the square foot, yes: $572 against $473. Walnut Grove houses are older and smaller; Willoughby’s are newer and bigger.

Which has the better schools, Willoughby or Walnut Grove?

On the Fraser Institute’s published ratings, Walnut Grove: its four public elementaries rate 6.9 to 8.3 and Walnut Grove Secondary 7.6, against Willoughby Elementary 6.8 and R.E. Mountain 6.0. Ratings measure test results, not teaching.

How fast do houses sell in Walnut Grove?

A median 21 days over the twelve months to August 2026, at 97.6% of asking, on 3.6 months of supply: the quickest, closest-to-ask and tightest house market in Langley.

Is Willoughby a good investment?

Nothing here is advice on a specific property. What the numbers say: Willoughby is half of Langley’s sales, the only neighbourhood where every home type sold more this year than last, and the place where new construction clears at ask; its benchmarks fell 6.9% (houses), 5.0% (townhomes) and 9.3% (condos) on the year.

Fraser Valley Real Estate Board MLS® August 2026 package, released 2 September 2026; sub-area and twelve-month figures from the board’s InfoSparks database, read 5 September 2026. Benchmarks are the board’s index price, never an average. Analysis: Hamish Ross.

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