Vancouver-area home sales up 37.8 per cent from year ago, board says

By The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER - Home sales in Vancouver were up nearly 40 per cent in October compared with a year ago, when sales dropped following changes to the mortgage lending rules, the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver said Monday.

The board says 2,661 homes were sold last month through the Multiple Listing Service, compared with 1,931 a year ago.

Compared with September, sales were up 7.2 per cent.

"We continue to see fairly typical activity when it comes to monthly home sale and listing totals,” said Sandra Wyant, president of the Greater Vancouver board.

"Today’s activity is helping to keep us in balanced market territory, which means that prices tend to experience minimal fluctuation."

Sales were 2.8 per cent over the 10-year average for the month.

Despite the sharp gain in sales, the total number of homes listed for sale on the MLS system was 15,257, down 12.2 per cent compared with a year ago, while the sales-to-active-listings ratio was 17.4 per cent for the region.

The MLS home price index composite benchmark price was $600,700 for Greater Vancouver, down 0.5 per cent compared with a year ago.

Sales of detached homes were up 35.1 per cent at 1,067 last month compared with 790 a year ago, while the benchmark price for detached properties decreased 0.5 per cent to $922,600.

The board said sales of apartment properties amounted to 1,098, up 36.7 per cent from 803 apartment sales a year ago, while attached property totalled 496, up 46.7 per cent from 338.

The benchmark price apartment price was down 0.9 per cent from last year at $365,600, while the benchmark price of an attached property was unchanged at $458,000.