Home sales in Vancouver fell sharply in March compared to a year ago, but the city’s real estate board says supply and demand are holding steady.
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reported that 2,347 properties were sold last month on the MLS system, an 18.3 per cent drop compared to the 2,847 sales in the same time period in 2012.
The March sales were the second lowest in Greater Vancouver since 2001 – and a whopping 30 per cent lower than the 10-year sales average for the month.
Sales in Toronto also fell sharply, down 17 per cent.
But the sales drop in Toronto didn’t make a dent in prices. The average home price rose in March 3.8 per cent, to $519,879.
The news wasn’t so rosy in the City of Glass, with house prices falling 3.9 per cent. The benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver is now $593,100. That number jumps to $906,900 when looking at detached properties.
Home sales across Canada have been decreasing since last summer, when federal regulators tightened mortgage rules over fears that people were racking up too much consumer debt.
Observers have been keeping close tabs on Toronto and Vancouver – two of the country’s hottest, and arguably overheated – real estate markets in the country.
There are currently 15,460 properties on sale in Greater Vancouver, a 1.5 per cent increase compared to March 2012.
