The Mackenzie Heights and Kitsilano neighbourhoods are seen underneath the downtown skyline in Vancouver, Friday, December 14, 2012.
Greater Vancouver housing sales shot up during the traditionally slower month of September while prices hit record highs.
There were 2,922 resale properties that changed hands last month, up 17.7 per cent from the same month in 2013 and 16.1 per cent higher than the 10-year average for September, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.
"September was an active period for our housing market when we compare it against typical activity for the month," board president Ray Harris said in a statement Thursday.
Greater Vancouver's home price index for detached houses, condos and townhomes reached a new high of $633,500 last month, up 5.3 per cent from a year earlier. The index price is calculated by using a formula that strips out the most expensive resale properties on the Multiple Listing Service.
The benchmark price for a single-family detached home on Vancouver's west side hit a record-high of $2,299,900 last month, up 10.1 per cent from September, 2013. Other pricing records for detached homes include Vancouver's east side at $948,700, up 11.6 per cent the over past year and Burnaby South, up 6 per cent to $1,028,200.
Brent Jang