Housing demand for continued to be strong across Greater Vancouver in February, with particularly high sales volumes occurring in Richmond and Vancouver Westside. For the past two months, the number of properties listed for sale and those sold on the MLS in Greater Vancouver outpaced the 10-year average in both categories.

RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY SALES – UP 25% from last year

3,097 homes were sold in February 2011. This is represents a 70% increase from January 2011 and a 25% increase from the same month last year. Looking at this from the big picture, this outpaces the 10 year average of 2,742.

HOUSING PRICE INDEX – UP 3% from last year

Demand was up across the region in February with an intensity of activity seen in hotspots like Richmond and Vancouver West. Single detached homes in Richmond and the west side of Vancouver remain the most sought after properties in our marketplace.

Between November 2010 and February 2011, the MLSLink® Housing Price Index (HPI) benchmark price of a detached home in Richmond increased $190,739 to $1,099,679; in Vancouver West, detached home prices increased $222,185 to $1,850,072. In comparison, detached home prices across the region increased $51,762 between November 2010 and February 2011 to $848,645.

• The benchmark price for detached properties increased 6% from February 2010 to $848,645.
• The benchmark price of an apartment property increased 2% from February 2010 to $399,397.
• The benchmark price of an attached unit increased 2% from February 2010 to $507,118

NEW LISTINGS – UP 24% from last year

5,693 properties were newly listed in February 2011. This represents a 24% increase from February 2010 and a 19% increase compared to the 4,801 new listings we saw in January.

At, 11,925, the total number of residential property listings on the MLS increased 14% in February compared to last month and increased 5%from this time last year

SALES OF DETACHED PROPERTIES – UP 43% from last year

1,402 detached homes sold in February 2011. This is an increase of 43% from last year and a 139% from February 2009.

SALES OF APARTMENT PROPERTIES – UP 12% from last year

1,206 apartment properties sold in February 2011. This is an increase of 12% from February 2010, and an 85% increase compared to February 2009.

SALES OF ATTACHED PROPERTIES – UP 18% from last year

There were a total of 489 attached property sales in February 2011. This marks a 18% decrease from February 2010, and a 101% increase from February 2009.

Download the complete REBGV February 2011 Stats Package >>