Home prices in the Tri-Cities are about the same as last year despite a more bullish economy and construction booming region-wide.
According to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV), which released the MLS home price index this week, the benchmark price for a "composite" home - stats combining those of of detached and attached homes and condos - is up 2.7% in Coquitlam, at $512,200.
In Port Coquitlam, the benchmark price gained 1.5% in a year, to $407,100, while the Port Moody benchmark is up 1.3%, to $495,500.
Broken out, the estimated average sales prices for a single-family home are:
$701,200 in Coquitlam;
$550,800 in Port Coquitlam;
and $795,900 in Port Moody.
For townhouses, the benchmarks are $383,900 in Coquitlam, $379,300 in PoCo and $410,700 in PoMo.
And for condos, the benchmarks are $259,600 in Coquitlam, $235,200 in PoCo and $311,800 in PoMo.
The benchmark price for all residential homes in Metro Vancouver is $607,700, up 4.8% over the past year.
On the sales side, Coquitlam detached homes fared well on the market, with 154 sales last month versus 147 in March 2011.
But house sales in PoCo and PoMo were down significantly when comparing the two months: Only 36 were sold in PoCo (compared to 60 last March) and 16 in PoMo (compared to 30 last March). The sale of Tri-City attached homes was on par but Port Moody apartment sales were down by half, from 40 sales in March 2011 to 20 sales last month.
March sales in Greater Vancouver were the second lowest in 10 years, REBGV said in a news release.
"Home sellers have been more active than buyers the first few months of the year but we continue to see a relative balance in the total supply of homes for sale and the current demand in the marketplace," REBGV president Eugen Klein stated in the release.
