Vancouver Panorama by Tom J. Byrne

Home sales in March stayed below the ten year average in Greater Vancouver while home listings reached higher numbers than expected. March 2012 sales were the second lowest total for the month in the Greater Vancouver region since 2002. These stayed 16.8 per cent below the ten year sales average for the month.

Eugen Klein, REBGV president, commented on the situation: “Home sellers have been more active than buyers the first few months of the year, but we continue to see a relative balance in the total supply of homes for sale and current demand in the marketplace. The total number of properties for sale in Greater Vancouver has increased each month since December, which means there’s more selection to choose from as we enter what’s traditionally the busiest season of the year in our market.”

Last month’s new listing total was 4.5 per cent above the ten year average for listings in Greater Vancouver for March. New listings for detached, attached, and apartment properties amounted to 5,843 — reaching a 5.2 per cent increase in growth compared to February, when new listings reached 5,552. This represents a 14 per cent decline compared to March 2011, when 6,797 homes were added to the MLS® in Greater Vancouver.

• Detached property sales on the MLS® (1,183 units) experienced a 34.1 per cent decrease compared to March 2011 ( 1,795 units) and a 11.5 per cent decline compared to March 2010 (1,336 units). The benchmark price increased 9.2 per cent from March 2011 to $1,056,400.

• Apartment property sales (1,191) declined 26.6 per cent compared to March 2011 (1,622) and 4.9 per cent compared to March 2010 (1,252) the benchmark price increased by 2.2 per cent from March 2011 to $375,100 .

• Town home property sales (500 units) experienced a 24.6 per cent decline compared to March 2011 (663 units) and a 8.9 per cent decrease compared to March 2010 (549 units). The benchmark price was raised by 0.9 per cent since March 2011 to $480,900 .

The MLS® HPI benchmark price for all residential properties in the Greater Vancouver Area has experienced a hardly noticeable growth of 5.3 per cent over the last year, climbing up to $679,000 since March 2011, and a miniature 1.1 per cent increase compared to February 2012. The benchmark price for all residential properties in the Lower Mainland is $ 607,700 — 4.8 per cent more than in March 2011.

Residential property sales reached 2,874 on the Multiple Listing Service®, increasing by 12.9 per cent compared to February’s 2,545. This represents a 29.6 per cent decline compared to March 2011 sales, which reached 4,080 and 8.4 per cent fall from the 3,137 home sales in March 2010. With 15,236, the total number of residential property listings on the MLS® increased by 8.4 per cent, compared to February 2012 and increased 16 per cent from this time last year.