July home sales in Vancouver, once the country's hottest real estate market, continued to slide and hit their lowest total for the month since 2000.
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver said Thursday that 2,098 properties sold in July, down 18.4 per cent from 2,571 in July 2011 and down 11.2 per cent from June's mark of 2,362, which was also the lowest total for that month since 2000.
Despite the sharp drop in the number of homes sold, the board said the MLS home price index composite benchmark price was $616,000, up 0.6 per cent from a year ago, but down 0.7 per cent from June.
"People appear to be cautious about making significant financial decisions right now," board president Eugen Klein said in a statement. "While our local economy appears to be quite robust, there may be some concern about the impact of international markets and the federal government's tightening of mortgage regulations."
The total number of active residential property listings on the MLS system was 18,081, up 18.8 per cent from a year ago, but down 2.2 per cent compared with a month ago.
