Helena Tam, at the sales centre of the Magnolia tower where she purchased a penthouse apartment. CREDIT: Ian Lindsay, Vancouver Sun

Condominium sales continued to drive Greater Vancouver’s sizzling real estate market in May, when 1,767 units sold at a record average price of $256,800, breaking the previous mark set in April by $2,200.

Overall, a total of 3,918 detached houses, townhomes and condos changed hands last month through the Multiple Listing Service, a year-over-year rise of 19.5 per cent from 3,279 properties sold the previous May.

Last month’s average detached price of $530,300 and the average townhome price of $306,100 remained virtually unchanged from the record levels, also established in April, of $532,500 and $306,100 respectively.

The 1,767 condos sold in May represented a 46 per cent increase over 1,211 sales the previous year. On Vancouver‘s west side and downtown — the Lower Mainland’s hottest condo market — 799 units were snapped up last month, up 60 per cent from 499 units a year ago.

The west side and downtown’s average condo price hit $329,300 in May — unchanged from the record level set in April — and was up 36 per cent from $242,000 the previous May.

Other hot spots for condo sales last month included Vancouver‘s east side, Burnaby and Richmond.

This past Saturday, purchasers lined up for a block for the opening of a new 18-storey condo tower in Richmond, called Magnolia. By Sunday, 70 of the 135 available units were sold at prices ranging from $189,900 for a 690-square-foot one-bedroom unit, to $480,000 for a 1,200-square-foot two-bedroom-and-den penthouse.

Among the buyers was Richmond resident Helena Tam, who purchased one of the penthouses.

“I’ve always dreamed of owning a penthouse,” said Tam, an entrepreneur who emigrated from Hong Kong nine years ago with her husband, Winston.

“And I think there is much more security living in a highrise building. I’ve had bad experiences living in a house. We were broken into twice.”

Magnolia’s listing realtor Jason Craik said Tuesday he has never seen real-estate buying frenzy like this outside the Vancouver core.

“We’re used to this kind of excitement in Yaletown, but not in the suburbs,” said Craik, co-owner of Vancouver-based McNeil and Craik Real Estate Solutions.

“We actually had buyers standing in the rain to avoid missing the deal this [past] weekend.”

Earlier, Craik’s marketing firm sold all 255 units, totalling $70 million, in the first two buildings of the three-phase residential project, called Hamptons Park, being built by Cressey Development Corp.

“We sold out the first two towers within a couple of months each, but neither of them got off to a start like Magnolia,” Craik said.

Last month’s bright spots in Greater Vancouver for detached sales included Burnaby, Richmond and Maple Ridge. Among townhomes, sales were brisk in Vancouver east, Burnaby and North Vancouver.

“There is still a huge pent-up demand for real estate in Greater Vancouver,” said Andrew Peck, president of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver. “It remains a hot, hot market.”

In the six Fraser Valley communities, a total of 1,935 homes sold on the MLS last month, up 19.4 per cent from 1,621 sales in May 2003.

Detached properties in the valley sold at an average price of $356,900 in May, a 20.4-per-cent increase from $296,400. Townhomes fetched an average of $217,100, up 13.5 per cent from $191,200, and condos averaged $142,600, up 11.8 per cent from $127,500.

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REAL ESTATE BOOM:

Highlights from May’s real estate sales figures:

Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows:

Condo sales up 106.7%

Burnaby:

Condo sales up 81.3%

South Delta:

Condo sales up 71.4%

Vancouver West:

Condo sales up 60.1%

East Vancouver:

Condo sales up 53.4%

Burnaby:

Sales of detached homes up 20.6%

Coquitlam:

Sales of attached homes up 59.3%

East Vancouver

Sales of attached homes up 50%

Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows

Sales of attached homes up 29.8%

© The Vancouver Sun 2004