Home sales across Metro Vancouver see 11% rise although property listings skidded to the lowest level in three years

Hopeful homebuyers in Metro Vancouver vied for a dwindling number of properties in October and the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says that means prices continued to climb.

The board's October housing market report says although sales across the Lower Mainland slipped about five per cent compared with the same period last year, they jumped 11 per cent since September and remain 22 per cent above the 10-year sales average for the month.

That's despite a plunge in property listings which the board says have skidded to their lowest level in three years.

Fierce competition for few homes is one reason for continued price hikes, with the board saying the benchmark price for all homes in the region last month was just under 1.2-million dollars, a nearly 15 per cent leap over last October and a 1.1 per cent boost since September's report.