Suzanne Fournier
Province
Housing sales rode a wave last year that made it the second-best year ever recorded by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.
There were 38,050 sales of residential attached, detached and apartment property sales in the city of Vancouver and surrounding suburbs — a 7.2-per-cent increase from 2006, the board said yesterday. The figures are a 6.1-per-cent decrease from 2005, a banner year which set the record of 40,530 sales.
Board president Brian Naphtali attributed the soaring number of sales to B.C.’s economic strength.
The benchmark price for a 2007 sale in Greater Vancouver was $543,401 for a detached property and $456,941 for an attached home. The benchmark price for an apartment in Greater Vancouver was $377,579.
Sales of homes in the Fraser Valley also rose last year, with townhomes and condominiums proving popular with young families seeking affordable housing.
There were 16,547 sales of homes of all types in the Fraser Valley last year, up one per cent from 2006. Townhomes and apartments made up 44 per cent of residential sales, up three per cent from 2006.
“Many of our clients are families with young children looking for more affordable options,” said Jim McCaughan, president of the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board.
© The Vancouver Province 2008