Welcome to the June edition of Real Estate News.  Well, if you are a home-owner, then you’ll be glad to hear that it continues to be a seller’s market.  Detached, attached and condo properties in Greater Vancouver totalled 3,377 in May, an increase of 7% compared to May 2010, and a 4.7% increase from April, last month.

No records were set for this past month as the 3 highest selling Mays every recorded occurred in 2005, 2006 and 2007 when sales exceeded the 4,000 mark each year. 

New listings totalled 5,931 in May representing a 15.4% decrease from May 2010.  However, compared to April 2011, the May sales increased 1.4%.                      

The total listings on MLS® in May totalled 14,656 which is an increase of 2% compared to April, but declined 16% compared to 2010. 

But the good news is:  the MLSLink® Housing Price Index (HPI) benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver increased 6.2% to $627,568 in May 2011 from $590,662 of May 2010. 

Sales of detached properties on the MLS® in May 2011 reached 1,570, an increase of 25 per cent from the 1,256 detached sales recorded in May 2010.    

Sales of apartment properties reached 1,228 in May 2011, a 9.3 per cent decrease compared to the 1,354 sales in May 2010.    

Attached property sales in May 2011 totalled 579, a 6 per cent increase compared to the 546 sales in May 2010                                         

The benchmark price for detached properties increased 10 per cent from May 2010 to $890,833.                                    

The benchmark price of an apartment property increased 2.2 per cent from May 2010 to $407,419    

The benchmark price of an attached unit increased 3.5 per cent between May 2010 and 2011 to $517,787.  So congratulations, your investment is doing well!