The slide in house prices came to an end in South Delta last month.
The latest sales figures from the Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board show the "benchmark" price for a detached single-family home in Tsawwassen was $1,179,600 in March, a 2.5 per cent increase over the previous month. The benchmark price in Ladner was $947,500, which was exactly the same as the month before.
Home prices in South Delta, as well as the rest of the Lower Mainland, have been on a gradual decline since last summer. In the past six months, the price in Ladner has fallen by 11 per cent while in Tsawwassen the drop has been just over seven per cent.
That's a far cry from last year at this time when both communities saw a year-to-year increase of well over 30 per cent.
The Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board notes a shortage of residential listings coupled with strong demand resulted in an increase in activity in March compared to February. However, last month's sales were still down by almost 31 per cent from March 2016.
In North Delta, house prices dropped slightly again last month with the "average price" listed at $889,713.
According to the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board, sales activity in March was up from the previous month but still saw a decrease of 26.4 per cent compared to March of last year.
Meanwhile, Metro Vancouver this week called for substantial changes to the B.C. homeowner grant, property transfer tax and school property tax to ensure property taxation is more equitable for residents and businesses across the region.
The recommendation follows a Metro Vancouver-commissioned independent analysis that found Greater Vancouver homeowners pay a disproportionate share of property taxes compared with the rest of B.C.
