VANCOUVER -- Housing sales re-accelerated across the Lower Mainland in February with a surprising jump in prices, which helped reverse a slowing trend that settled into markets last June, statistics from the major real estate boards show. The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reported 2,859 MLS sales in February, still 2.8 per cent below sales in the same month a year ago. The benchmark price for Greater Vancouver detached home hit $666,983 in February, compared with $641,596 in January. The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board reported 1,413 MLS sales, which was 15 per cent below February, 2006 sales, but 41 per cent higher than just a month previous. The average price on a Fraser Valley detached home was $507,439, 16.8 per cent higher than February last year. Helmut Pastrick, chief economist for Credit Union Central B.C., wrote in his weekly economic briefing that that Greater Vancouver's February sales "held up better than expected," with January and February being the strongest consecutive months since May-June 2006.
