Led by a growing number of young, single female buyers, "value-conscious" Canadians are helping to create a robust housing market, according to the Bank of Montreal's spring housing report.

First-time buyers being drawn into the market by low interest rates and affordable housing, are attracted to convenient, urban living, said analysts on a conference call Thursday to discuss the report.

Among the major trends, experts highlighted single family homes, the condo boom and an urban lifestyle, where restaurants, subways, schools and work are within walking distance.

Read more at: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/real-estate/Value+minded+buyers+fuelling+strong+spring+housing+market+report/6449865/story.html

Renovation contractor Kenorah Construction & Design and home builder ParkLane Homes have earned the greatest number of finalist spots — 15 and 13, respectively - in the Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association’s third annual Ovation Awards.

Follow this link for full article: http://www.househunting.ca/vancouversun/homes/6379646/story.html?tab=PHOT

The number of new listings for single family homes in North Vancouver for the month of March 2012 is 198 which is only down a mere -2% from March of last year. The number of new lsitings for attached real estate for the month of March was 971 which is down -10% from last year at this time. The number of new listings for condos for the month of March 2012 is 177 which is up 12.7% compared to last year at this time.

There were 121 sales for single family homes in North Vancouver for the month of March 2012. This number is down -10.4% compared to March of 2011, but is still quite high compared to March of 2010 which had 96 sales recorded for the month. The median sale price for a single family home was $1,017,500 which is up 9.3% from last year at this time.

There were 54 sales for attached real estate in North Vancouver for the month of March 2012. This number is down -28.9% from March of last year. There were 40 sales of attached real estate and the median sale price was $672,500 which is up 6.7% from this time last year.

There were 91 condos that sold in North Vancouver for the month of March 2012. This number is down -18.8% from March of 2011, but again is still up from March of 2010 which had 72 sales recorded for the month. The median sale price for a condo in North Vancouver is $410,000 which is up 12.7% from last year at this time.

West Vancouver Archives. West Vancouver Archives collection. 0606.WVA.PHO Dundarave waterfront, [CIRCA 1910].

For the full statistics package from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver for the Month of March 2012 please follow this link:

http://www.rebgv.org/sites/default/files/201203-REBGV-Stats-Package-for-Media.pdf

In West Vancouver there were 105 sales recorded for the month of March 2012. This number is down -44.1% from the 188 sales that occured in March 2011. Although the numbers are down quite significantly for this year, if we compare them to 2010 they are quite similar. This illustrates how hot the real estate market was last year and the high volume that was traded.

The number of new listings on the market is down about 14% from last year at 217 for the month of March. Average days on the market for a home is 56 days which has not changed much over the past 2 years.