Home sales drop lowest in three decades

Homes sales in Greater Vancouver hit their lowest point in nearly three decades last month.

Home sales dropped by 58.1 per cent to 762, down from 1,819 sales in January 2008, the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver said yesterday.

The plunge was similar in the Fraser Valley, where 389 home sales were recorded, a decline of 59 per cent compared with 956 sales in January 2008.

That number was “comparable to January sales figures last seen in the early 1980s,” said the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board.

Home prices also took a tumble last month. The benchmark price of a home in Greater Vancouver dropped 10.9 per cent to $489,007. Detached property prices fell 11.2 per cent to $659,638, apartment properties 11.6 per cent to $334,602 and attached units 8.1 per cent to $425,309.

The value of a “typical” Fraser Valley detached home fell 9.6 per cent to $452,145 in January, compared with $500,070 in January, 2008.

The average price of a Fraser Valley townhouse dropped by 8.5 per cent to $295,339, while the benchmark price of a Fraser Valley apartment fell 12.9 per cent to $220,595.

(prepared by Any Ivens/Vancouver Province)