Residential property sales across B.C. are poised to shatter records set last year in terms of units sold and dollar volume, according to the latest housing industry figures released Wednesday.

In May, 10,048 homes worth $2.91 billion sold through the Multiple Listing Service, a 36.5-per-cent increase in dollar value and an 18-per-cent rise in units compared to May 2003.

It marked the unprecedented third straight month that housing sales exceeded 10,000 units.

“We have never seen three consecutive months with more than 10,000 people buying homes in B.C.,” said Gordon Maroney, president of the B.C. Real Estate Association, which represents more than 13,000 licensees around the province.

“Home sales have a great impact on our provincial economy, considering almost everyone who buys a home also buys furniture and appliances, does some renovations and uses legal and financial services.”

For each unit sold, consumers spend an average of $19,800 on additional goods and services, said Maroney, a Delta realtor.

In April, 10,320 homes worth $3.01 billion sold on the MLS, a 50-per-cent increase in dollar volume and up 29 per cent in unit sales over the same month the previous year.

In March, a monthly record $3.04 billion worth of homes — representing 10,612 transactions — sold across B.C.

Year-to-date MLS data for the first five months show sales have already reached 43,492 units worth $12.5 billion — a 38-per-cent improvement in dollar volume and a 20.5-per-cent jump in units over the same period in 2003.

Extrapolated over the full year, B.C. housing sales are poised to hit 104,380 units, totalling $30 billion, for 2004, easily shattering the record $24.2 billion worth of homes sold last year, along with the record 93,564 units changing hands in 1992.

“Consumer demand for housing continues to be high, and, even though mortgage rates have risen slightly, they are still very affordable,” Maroney said. “These factors will keep the market strong throughout the summer.”

Dollar-wise, a total of about $1.5 billion worth of residential properties sold in Greater Vancouver in May, up 40 per cent over $1.07 billion the previous year. Other sharp percentage increases were recorded in Powell River, the Kootenays, Fraser Valley, northern B.C., Vancouver Island and Chilliwack.

© The Vancouver Sun 2004