Vancouver-area sales and listings on the rise: real estate board

Greater Vancouver's real estate board says new listings were up in February as home sellers shed some of their hesitation, while the number of home sales also rose.

The board, which changed its name to Greater Vancouver Realtors last month, says February home sales rose 13.5 per cent from the same month last year, to 2,070.

That number was still 23.3 per cent below the 10-year seasonal average.

The board says there were 4,560 new listings of detached, attached and apartment properties last month, 31.1 per cent more than the same month last year and almost on par with the 10-year seasonal average.

The composite benchmark home price considered to be a typical sale price for homes in similar areas was $1,183,300, up 4.5 per cent from a year ago and up 1.9 per cent from January.

Andrew Lis, the board's director of economics and data analytics, says the uptick in new listings is welcome and will offer buyers more choice heading into the spring.

"While the pace of home sales started the year off briskly, the pace of newly listed properties in January was slower by comparison. A continuation of this pattern in February would have been concerning, as it could quickly tilt the market towardoverheated conditions," Lis said.

The areas and municipalities covered by Greater Vancouver Realtors are Bowen Island, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Maple Ridge, New Westminster, North Vancouver, Pitt Meadows, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Richmond, South Delta, Squamish, the Sunshine Coast, Vancouver, West Vancouver and Whistler.