Greater Vancouver‘s real estate boom is beginning to move to the rest of the province, according to new figures released Tuesday by the B.C. Real Estate Association.

The new figures indicate the association’s members sold 10,320 homes worth a total of $3.01 billion in April — a 50-per-cent increase in dollar volume over April 2003.

And those gains aren’t limited to the Lower Mainland.

All 12 B.C. real estate boards across the province reported increased sales in April of 2004 over April of 2003. Only one — serving the Dawson Creek region — noticed a slight drop in the dollar value of its sales.

And while Greater Vancouver’s market remains hot — with a 32-per-cent jump in properties sold this April over last– other regions of the province also recorded dramatic gains over last year:

– Powell River is up 144 per cent.

– The north is up 48 per cent.

– Kamloops is up 29 per cent.

– The Fraser Valley and Vancouver Island are both up 25 per cent.

David Baxter of the Urban Futures Institute said increased sales outside Greater Vancouver suggest economically depressed parts of the province are finally coming around.

“I think the message we’re getting from those regions outside of the Vancouver sphere of influence is some renewed confidence,” he said. “I think it’s a pretty good indication that people are feeling better about the future.”

Baxter said the provincial boom is also likely a result of Vancouver having had a sizzling market for so long.

What is likely happening, he said, is that Vancouverites who have been tempted into the market by low interest rates are finding they can’t afford anything in Vancouver — and so have begun looking in the Fraser Valley instead.

Baxter said a hot market in Vancouver can also cause spin-off booms elsewhere in the province as older people see the equity in their homes grow and decide to cash out and move somewhere cheaper.

“You’re getting people whose house was worth $300,000 three years ago and now it’s worth $500,000 and they’re ready to retire, and here’s a tax-free gift of a couple hundred thousand,” said Baxter. “That will contribute to [housing growth in] Kelowna, Osoyoos, Oliver, Salmon Arm.”

Alex MacDonald, who has a Re/Max office in both Chilliwack and Kamloops, said he’s noticed a real boom in both communities this year.

“Definitely over the last year and a half we’ve seen a real increase,” he said. “It seems to move out from the Lower Mainland.”

For all of 2003, B.C. consumers purchased a record $24.2 billion worth of homes, shattering the previous record of of $19.7 billion set in 2002.

So far this year, sales have reached 33,444 units worth $9.55 billion — a 38-per-cent improvement in dollar volume and a 21-per-cent jump in unit sales over the first four months of 2003.

David Herman, past president of the B.C. Real Estate Association, which represents 13,000 licensed realtors, says 2004 is shaping up as another record year, with people buying homes across the province despite varying economic conditions and markets.

Association president Gordon Maroney said with mortgage rates expected to stay low through 2004 and B.C.’s economy performing well, he expects the market will remain strong.

In Greater Vancouver, 4,215 properties worth $1.59 billion sold in April, compared to 3,192 units worth $1.02 billion in April 2003, representing increases in units and dollar volume of 32 per cent and 55 per cent, respectively.

Figures from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver show condominiums dominated the market in April, with 1,774 sales, up 52 per cent from 1,161 sales in April, 2003.

Sales of detached properties totalled 1,682, up 14 per cent from April last year.

“We have seen a steady buoyant market due to a number of factors, including the lowest interest rates in decades,” said Andrew Peck, president of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.

“In spite of small fluctuations in interest rates, consumers continue to seek real estate as a stable place to put their money. It would take a significant rise in interest rates to affect the market.”

© The Vancouver Sun 2004