British Columbians were still shopping for homes despite the 2010 Winter Olympics.
B.C. housing sales recovered from their eight-year lows last February, climbing 63% to 5,955 units sold last month, according to data released by the B.C. Real Estate Association.
Total B.C. sales dollar volume almost doubled, rising 91% to $2.96 billion from dollar volume in February 2009. The average MLS residential price rose 17% to $497,807, due partially to a 12.1% decline in the number of active listings on the market.
Regions with the most declines in the number of active listings included Metro Vancouver (-20.3%), Victoria (-19.3%) and the Fraser Valley (-11.9%).
While low interest rates continue to spur demand, residential unit sales declined 13% in February from the number of sales in January.