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On the eve of Lunar New Year, it appears as though housing sales are still extremely slow in the Lower Mainland.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reported today that there were 1,103 sales last month, down 39.3 percent from January 2018.

Last month's sales also lagged 36.3 percent behind the 10-year average for January and were the lowest in that month since 2009.

Meanwhile, listings rose sharply last month in comparison to January 2018, up a whopping 55.6 percent to 10,808.

The benchmark price for all residential homes last month was just over $1 million. That's down 4.5 percent from the same month a year ago.

The benchmark price of an apartment has dropped 6.6 percent over the past six months to $658,600.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver's territory includes much of Metro Vancouver, Squamish, and Whistler, but not White Rock, North Delta, Surrey, or Langley.

In December 2018, the board reported that sales were down 48.6 percent from December 2017.