The number suggest the unfolding economic crisis has slowed buyers down, said Rudy Nielsen, president of Landcor Data Corporation, a company that specializes in real estate information.
"My opinion is most people are nervous," he said. "They've seen so much negative stuff in the media. . . . Everybody's just sitting back and saying: 'I'm not going to do anything.' "
The North Shore's declining home values are part of a larger trend across the Lower Mainland. November saw the benchmark price for a home in the Vancouver region fall to $496,000, a 12.8-per-cent drop from a year ago. In all, just 874 Lower Mainland homes sold last month compared to 2,883 in November 2007, meaning the region's housing market has slowed by almost 70 per cent.
