Vancouver-area home sales up 1.2% in September, still below long-term trend

The Vancouver-area real estate board says September sales inched up from last year but remain well off long-term trends. Greater Vancouver Realtors says the 1,875 sales in the month marked a 1.2 per cent increase from last year, but the total was still 20.1 per cent below the 10-year seasonal average.

The association said last month's rate cut from the Bank of Canada, with another expected before the end of the year, could help give some lift to the fall market.

New listings in September totalled 6,527, a 6.2 per cent increase from last year.

The increased inventory brought total listings up 14.4 per cent in September from last year to 17,079 homes, 36.1 per cent above the 10-year seasonal average.

The rise in listings helped lead to a 3.2 per cent decline on the composite benchmark price of a home from last year to $1,142,100.