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Metro Vancouver home sales heat up in May

Click to play video: 'Metro Vancouver real estate heats up again'
Metro Vancouver real estate heats up again
WATCH: After a brief cool-down, the latest figures show Metro Vancouver’s real estate market is red hot once again. Ted Chernecki reports – Jun 2, 2017

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says home sales across the region returned to near record levels in May.

The board says residential property sales totalled 4,364 in May, a leap of 22.8 per cent over the 3,553 homes sold one month earlier.

May’s numbers are about 10 per cent lower than sales recorded in May 2016, but a news release from the real estate board notes properties were changing hands at an all-time record one year ago.

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READ MORE: Vancouver real estate could experience ‘market whiplash’ as home sales jump: report

It also says sales last month were 23.7 per cent above the 10-year May sales average and the third-highest selling May on record, despite a 15 per cent foreign buyers tax imposed by the B.C. government last year.

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Board president Jill Oudil says sales are inching closer to the record-breaking pace of 2016, but she says the market this year is being driven by a demand for townhomes and condominiums, rather than single-family homes.

READ MORE: City of Vancouver looks to ‘reset’ housing strategy to better address affordability crunch

The composite benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver is currently $967,500, an 8.8 per cent increase over May 2016 and a 2.8 per cent increase compared with April 2017.

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