March marks a strong start to the spring season. Activity in the Greater Vancouver housing market continued to strengthen in March with both the number of homes sold and added to the region’s Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) reaching near record levels.

RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY SALES – UP 30% from last year

4,080 homes were sold in March 2011. This is represents a 30% increase from February 2011 and a 30% increase from the same month last year. This comes close to the all-time sales record for March which we saw in 2004 where 4,371 transactions were recorded.

HOUSING PRICE INDEX – UP 5% from last year

The MLSLink® Housing Price Index (HPI) benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver over the last 12 months has increased 5% per cent to $615,810 in March 2011 from $584,435 in March 2010.

• The benchmark price for detached properties increased 8% from March 2010 to $866,806.
• The benchmark price of an apartment property increased 2% from March 2010 to $403,885.
• The benchmark price of an attached unit increased 4% from March 2010 to $511,039

NEW LISTINGS – DOWN 3% from last year

6,797 properties were newly listed in March 2011. This represents a 3% decrease from March 2010, which was a record setting year with 7,004 new listings. This marks a 19% increase compared to the new listings we saw in February.

At, 13,110, the total number of residential property listings on the MLS increased 10% in March compared to last month and decreased 3%from the same month last year

SALES OF DETACHED PROPERTIES – UP 34% from last year

1,795 detached homes sold in March 2011. This is an increase of 34% from last year and a 100% from March 2009.

SALES OF APARTMENT PROPERTIES – UP 30% from last year

1,622 apartment properties sold in March 2011. This is an increase of 30% from March 2010, and an 66% increase compared to March 2009.

SALES OF ATTACHED PROPERTIES – UP 21% from last year

There were a total of 663 attached property sales in March 2011. This marks a 20% increase from March 2010, and a 69% increase from March 2009.

Download the complete REBGV March 2011 Stats Package >>