The housing bubble continued to balloon last month as B.C. home sales set yet another record, this time an all-time high.

B.C. Real Estate Association reported total home sales broke the $3-billion mark in March, popping the previous one-month record of $2.53 billion set in July 2003.

“This is something we certainly weren’t expecting, association president David Herman said yesterday.

Some 10,612 homes worth $3.04 billion sold in March — a 51-per-cent increase in dollar volume over March 2003 and a 33-per-cent rise in sales.

Sales of more than 10,000 units in a month has only occurred twice: In April 1991 and March 1992.

All 12 B.C. real estate boards showed gains in March compared to last year, said Herman.

Kamloops had the hottest housing market, he said, with a 70-per-cent jump in sales over March 2003.

Both Vancouver and the Fraser Valley boards also saw solid growth, with dollar volumes up 52 per cent and 46 per cent, respectively.

According to the association, 2004 could be another record year for real estate.

In the first quarter of the year, individual unit sales hit 23,124 totalling $6.5 billion, up 33 per cent from the same quarter in 2003 and up almost 39 per cent from 2002.

So when’s the bubble going to burst?

“We’re all wondering that,” Herman said.

“I guess as long as interest rates stay low, it appears we can go for a while. I guess the question is, when do we run out of people to buy?”

© The Vancouver Province 2004