Sales of apartment-style condos were up 7.1 per cent from the previous February in Vancouver

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – The trend of condos as the only affordable option for most buyers in the Vancouver area continues.

Sales of apartment-style condos were up 7.1 per cent from the previous February and their prices jumped 27.2 per cent to an adjusted benchmark price of $682,800. They also rose 2.6 per cent in a single month.

“The spring is traditionally the busiest time for home buyers and sellers in our market,” Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver president Jill Oudil explains. “We’ll wait to see how they react to the taxes and other policy measures that our provincial and federal governments have introduced so far this year.”

Despite a reduction in purchasing power because of rising interest rates and tighter mortgage requirements, Oudil says “the supply of apartment and town home properties for sale today is unable to meet demand.” However, she adds detached homes are “beginning to enter buyers’ market territory.”

Home sales in the region were down nine per cent in February from a year earlier but sharply higher than the previous month. The industry group says the 2,207 sales were 21.4 per cent higher than in January but nine per cent lower than a year earlier. The board says February’s sales were 14.4 per cent below the 10-year average for the month.

Sales of single-detached homes were little changed from January and down 16.6 per cent from a year earlier to 621 at a benchmark price of $1.6 million, up 8.2 per cent from the previous February.