Home buyers and sellers enter the housing market at near record pace in March
Activity
in the Greater Vancouver housing market continued to strengthen in
March with both the number of homes sold and added to the region’s
Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) reaching near record levels.
The
Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential
property sales of detached, attached and apartment properties in
Greater Vancouver reached 4,080 in March 2011. This represents a 31.7
per cent increase compared to the 3,097 sales recorded in February 2011,
an increase of 30.1 per cent compared to the 3,137 sales in March 2010
and an 80.1 per cent increase from the 2,265 home sales in March 2009.
The all-time sales record for March occurred in 2004 when 4,371
transactions were recorded.
“Our market has had a very strong
start to the spring season,” Rosario Setticasi, REBGV president said.
“With home sales above 4,000 and nearly 7,000 home listings added to the
MLS® in March, it’s clear that home buyers and sellers view this as a
good time to be active in their local housing market.”
New
listings for detached, attached and apartment properties in Greater
Vancouver totalled 6,797 in March 2011. This represents a 3 per cent
decline compared to March 2010 when 7,004 properties were listed for
sale on the MLS®, an all-time record for March. Compared to February
2011, last month’s new listings total registered a 19.4 per cent
increase.
At, 13,110, the total number of residential property
listings on the MLS® increased 9.9 per cent in March compared to last
month and declined 3 per cent from this time last year.
“Conditions
favour sellers at the moment, but we’re seeing differences in
home-price trends and overall activity depending on the region and
property type,” Setticasi said.
The MLSLink® Housing Price Index
(HPI) benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater
Vancouver over the last 12 months has increased 5.4 per cent to $615,810
in March 2011 from $584,435 in March 2010.
Sales
of detached properties on the MLS® in March 2011 reached 1,795, an
increase of 34.4 per cent from the 1,336 detached sales recorded in
March 2010, and a 100.1 per cent increase from the 897 units sold in
March 2009. The benchmark price for detached properties increased 8.3
per cent from March 2010 to $866,806.
Sales of apartment
properties reached 1,622 in March 2011, a 29.6 per cent increase
compared to the 1,252 sales in March 2010, and an increase of 66.2 per
cent compared to the 976 sales in March 2009. The benchmark price of an
apartment property increased 2.1 per cent from March 2010 to $403,885.
Attached
property sales in March 2011 totalled 663, a 20.8 per cent increase
compared to the 549 sales in March 2010, and a 69.1 per cent increase
from the 392 attached properties sold in March 2009. The benchmark price
of an attached unit increased 3.6 per cent between March 2010 and 2011
to $511,039
Source: Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board