Home sales activity in Greater Vancouver was quieter last month than most Julys over the past decade, with residential sales, prices, and the number of homes listed for sale trending downward in recent months.

Here are the stats for July 2010 according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV)

RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY SALES - DOWN 45% from last year*
2,255 homes were sold in July 2010

• This represents a 24% decrease compared with June 2010
• Although this represents a huge decrease from last year, July 2009, it’s important to keep in perspective that last July was the highest selling July ever recorded, with 4,114 sales
•  Looking back further, last month’s residential sales represent a 4 % increase over the 2,174 residential sales in July 2008, a 42 % decline compared to July 2007, and a 18% decline compared to July 2006.

“With the pace of home sales and listings easing off in our market, we’ve begun to see a levelling of home prices from the record highs seen in the spring, creating greater affordability,” Jake Moldowan, REBGV president said. “Activity in today’s marketplace is clearly trending in favour of buyers.”

NEW LISTINGS - DOWN 18% from last year
4,138 properties were newly listed in July 2010

At 16,431, the total number of property listings on the MLS® in July declined 6.5 % compared to last month, and increased 33% compared to July 2009.
“It’s currently taking home sellers who work with a REALTOR®, on average, 45 days to sell their property, which is a historically healthy timeframe for people on both sides of a transaction,” Moldowan said.

HOUSING PRICE INDEX - UP 9% from last year
Since spring, housing prices have decreased about 3 % compared to the all-time high reached in April when the residential benchmark price was $593,419. Over the year, the MLSLink® Housing Price Index (HPI) benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver increased 9% to $577,074 in July 2010 from $528,821 in July 2009.

• The benchmark price for detached properties increased 12 % from July 2009 to $793,193.
• The benchmark price of an apartment property increased 6 % from July 2009 to $387,879.
• The benchmark price of an attached unit increased 9 % from July 2010 to $490,995.

SALES OF DETACHED PROPERTIES - DOWN 44% from last year
908 detached homes sold in July 2010. Although this is a significant decrease compared to last year, this represents a 10% increase compared to sales in July 2008

SALES OF APARTMENT PROPERTIES - DOWN 43% from last year
979 apartment properties sold in July 2010. This is a 1% increase compared to sales in July 2008.

SALES OF ATTACHED PROPERTIES - DOWN 54% from last year
There were a total of 368 attached property sales in July 2010. This marks a 3% decline from July 2008 sales.

Download the complete REBGV July 2010 Stats Package >>