Numbers down from one year ago, but a strong surge in the month of March across Lower Mainland and the Island
Real estate sales have bounced back in March compared to February, up 53 per cent in Metro Vancouver, 48 per cent in the Fraser Valley and 34 per cent on Vancouver Island.
Moreover, in some areas prices showed signs of recovery as well.
The numbers are still down significantly from last March but are still encouraging, said Paul Penner, president of the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board, where prices have eked up slightly.
“All the stats are encouraging,” Penner said. “They are going in the right direction.”
Fraser Valley realtors had more than 1,000 sales in March, the first time that level has been reached since last July. But sales are still down 24 per cent from a year ago.
Benchmark prices are also down, just over 10 per cent from last March, though many areas saw small price increases between March and February.
Overall, the average benchmark price was 1.3 per cent higher than in February, at $409,662, though condominiums were down slightly and townhouses were flat.
Things are looking up, Penner said. “Traffic is way up, the amount of phone calls coming into the offices has increased dramatically, the activity is definitely up,” he said.
