House prices start to sag

Real estate prices have begun to slip in some parts of the Lower Mainland.

The cooling trend comes as realtors report high numbers of prospective sellers.

"Real estate is cyclical and the numbers show that we've entered a buyer's cycle," said Kelvin Neufeld, president of the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board.

Prices are still up by at least single digits year-over-year, but the stats indicate most cities saw prices peak sometime in the second half of 2007 or early in 2008 and some areas have since been trending lower.

In the Fraser Valley, the typical single family house fell by 0.3 per cent in price in the past three months, while apartments were up 0.4 per cent and townhouses rose 1.6 per cent.

The Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board reported its benchmark house price fell about $6,000 in June to $765,000, but that's still up seven per cent from a year ago. Condo and townhouse prices are also down marginally in the past month.

Detached houses in White Rock, Port Coquitlam and Burnaby fell more than $20,000 in price since April, the stats show.

The biggest drop so far has been in West Vancouver, where detached houses fell more than 10 per cent in price in the last two months, from just under $1.6 million to $1.43 million. West Van house prices there are now up only 0.9 per cent year-over-year.

"We're experiencing a soft landing coming off the strongest and longest real estate cycle in our history," Neufeld said.

Sales are down sharply from a year ago across the region.

New listings, meanwhile, are up and the number of unsold homes is rising.

Realtors say sellers are in some cases having to moderate their expectations of how much they will get for their properties.

"We are beginning to see more price reductions in properties listed on the market today," said Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board president Dave Watt.