Both sales and prices for Metro Vancouver homes have dropped in what the head of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says is a return to historical demand levels.

Board president Phil Moore says home buyers have been taking a wait-and-see approach for most of 2018 and the slower activity has prompted home prices to edge downward across all property types.

The board reports says just over 1,600 residential home were sold in the region in November, a 42.5 per cent drop from the same month last year and a 34.7 per cent decrease in the 10-year average.

Moore says home prices have dipped four to seven per cent over the last six months depending on the property type and the board will watch conditions in the first quarter of 2019 to see if buyer demand picks up ahead of the usually active spring market.

The benchmark price for detached homes is just over $1.5 million, while the average price of an apartment is $667,800, a 2.3 per cent price decrease from November 2017.

The Greater Vancouver Real Estate board includes properties from Whistler and the Sunshine Coast in the north to Richmond, South Delta and Maple Ridge in the south.