Sale activity drops

November blew a deepening chill into the Lower Mainland real-estate market, figures released yesterday show.

Year-over-year home sales in Greater Vancouver plunged by 69.7 per cent in November from the same month a year earlier, the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver said yesterday.

The benchmark price for detached homes, condos and townhomes in Greater Vancouver fell 12.8 per cent between May and November 2008, the board said.

New listings in all three categories of homes fell 10.8 per cent between November and the same month in 2007, the board said.

Board president Dave Watt said that while the local market is not impervious to global economic challenges, those same difficulties have opened a purchasing window.

"For those whose personal finances allow them to get involved, there are opportunities in today's housing market that have not been seen in many years," Watt said.

Year-over-year home sales in the Fraser Valley fell by 62 per cent in November, the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board said.

The average price of a single-family detached home in the Fraser Valley rose by 0.1 per cent to $511,698 from the same month a year earlier, the board said.

But that price is down 6.8 per cent from the market's peak in May, the board said.

Although average prices are stable or slightly lower than last year the benchmark price -- the price of a typical home in the valley -- declined by larger margins, it said.

"The benchmark price for single-family detached decreased by 6.6 per cent in one year, townhomes decreased by five per cent and apartments by 6.1 per cent," the board said.

Fraser Valley board president Kelvin Neufeld said moderating prices have given buyers a chance to upgrade in size, location, or type of home.

"This is an excellent market in which to find quality properties because fewer people are buying," Kelvin said.

(Source: Vancouver Province)