JOAN MONTGOMERY

The Greater Vancouver housing market saw relatively typical home sale and listing activity in November.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales on the region’s Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) declined 5.9% in November compared to November 2010 and increased 1.9% compared to October 2011.  Last month’s residential sales total is 5.8 % below the 10-year average for November.

“The pace of home listings entering the market eased slightly in November, while sale levels remained fairly normal for this time of year,” the REBGV president said. “November activity helped put our market firmly in balanced territory.”

New listings on the MLS® for residential properties in Greater Vancouver declined 26.3% in November compared to October 2011, but increased 6.3% compared to November 2010.  Last month’s new listing total is 2.1% above the 10-year average for November.

The total number of properties currently listed on the Greater Vancouver MLS® declined 9% compared to October but increased 13% compared to this time last year.

The MLSLink® Housing Price Index (HPI) benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver over the last year has increased 7.2% to $622,087 from $580,080 in November 2010.  Since reaching a peak in June 2011 of $630,921, the benchmark price for all residential properties in the region declined 1.4%.

The number of sales of detached properties on the MLS® in November 2011 decreased 12.8% from November 2010 and 21.3% from November 2009. The benchmark price for detached properties increased 11.4% from November 2010.  

Sales of apartment properties decreased 4.9% compared to November 2010, and 28.4% sales from November 2009; however, the benchmark price increased 2.7% over November 2010

Attached property sales increased 9.1% in number in November 2011 compared to November 2010, and decreased 15.1% from November 2009. The benchmark price of an attached unit increased 4.5% between November 2010 and 2011.