British Columbia‘s real estate market led the country in price increases over the past quarter, but Lower Mainland homebuyers are starting to see some relief from the overheated market, according to reports released Thursday by Royal LePage Real Estate Services and the B.C. Real Estate Association.

Canada-wide, Royal Le-Page reported an increasing number of listings resulted in more choice for buyers and an easing of price increases for the third quarter of this year, compared with the same period last year.

The average price of a detached bungalow rose 6.7 per cent to $249,244, while a two-storey home was up 6.5 per cent at $309,415, and a condo was up 7.3 per cent at $176,826.

Vancouver topped price hikes for the quarter, with detached bungalows up 14 per cent to $471,267, two-storey homes up 13.5 per cent to $544,237, and the average condo up 20.9 per cent to $236,555.

Despite the higher prices, both Royal LePage and the BCREA reported good news for would-be homebuyers in the cooling of the Lower Mainland’s frenzied real estate market to what are considered more normal levels. The frantic bidding wars, with competing buyers putting multiple offers on a property, are virtually over — at least for now — according to the industry.

“There is no question that things are cooling down to a more normal level,” said Bill Binnie, owner/manager of Royal LePage Northshore. “It is good news for buyers because they don’t have to necessarily act immediately without doing due diligence.

“It is good news for sellers because with the market so hot, there were some problems. It was so crazy.”

The BC Real Estate Association reported a 1.61-per-cent decrease in the dollar volume of homes sold on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) in August, and an 8.75-per-cent drop in unit sales, compared with August 2003. BCREA reported 7,589 homes, worth a total $2.16 billion, sold in August, marking the seventh consecutive month B.C. home sales topped $2 billion.

“The Lower Mainland and Victoria, the two hottest markets of the last 18 months, have settled to a more normal market,” said BCREA President Gordon Maroney. “At the moment it is a better market for buyers and sellers, and certainly for realtors.”

Maroney said the frenzied market, which saw properties snapped up in a day and multiple offers on listings, was difficult for both buyers and realtors.

“It meant disappointment for people, and it meant they had to work that much harder to find what they wanted.”

Year-to-date sales have reached 68,753 units, worth $19.7 billion. That’s a 22.54-per-cent improvement in dollar volume and an 8.47-per-cent jump in unit sales over the first eight months of 2003. Maroney said he expects the trend will carry through the rest of the year.

“I’m confident our sales will exceed 2003 in both unit and dollar values,” he said.

While Vancouver and Victoria sales slowed, Maroney said other areas of the province enjoyed double-digit growth.

He said Prince George and northern B.C. saw an almost 13-per-cent increase in unit sales and a 31-per-cent increase in dollar volume. Kamloops had a 35-per-cent increase in unit sales, with a 59-per-cent increase in dollar volume.

“The economy is improving in the province in general, so those areas that were lagging are showing substantive improvement.”

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver released year-to-date sales to the end of August showing sales were up 4.8 per cent over the same period last year. However, sales slowed in August compared with the year earlier, with detached, attached and apartment sales sliding a total 24.4 per cent to 2,487, compared with August 2003 sales of 3,290.

Sales of apartments dropped 19 per cent to 1,045 sales in August, down from the year earlier. The benchmark price of a Greater Vancouver apartment, calculated by the real estate board’s housing price index, is $243,100, up 17.1 per cent from a year ago.

Sales of attached homes were down 27 per cent in August 2004 to 379 units sold, compared to 520 units in August 2003. The benchmark price of an attached unit is up almost 20 per cent over the year earlier, reaching $330,520 in August 2004.

Detached property sales were also down by 28 per cent to 1,063 sales in August 2004, compared with 1,478 sales in August 2003. The benchmark price of a detached home was up almost 20 per cent over August 2003, at $518,160.

Georges Pahud, first vice- president of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, said prices are still strong and Vancouver has “an active and stable market.”

“Numbers are lower than last year, but last year was such a banner year, we can’t have record-breaking years, year after year.

“A healthy market is a little slower. It gives everybody a chance to shop around.”

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THROUGH THE ROOF

Selected Greater Vancouver average home price increases, September ’03 to September ’04

Detached bungalow

Standard two-storey

Standard condo

Coquitlam 6.4% 8.4% 12.3%

Vancouver East 15.1% 16.3% 28.2%

North Vancouver 8.4% 20.0% 17.8%

Surrey 14.3% 5.9% 16.7%

Vancouver West 12.5% 9.0% 23.0%

© The Vancouver Sun 2004