January is often a slow time in the Lower Mainland real-estate market.

But last month, there were 31.7 percent more sales over January 2015, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.

The REBGV's territory includes most of the municipalities in Metro Vancouver, but doesn't cover North Delta, Surrey, and Langley.

The 2,519 sales last month ranked as the second-highest in history in January and were 46 percent above the 10-year monthly average.

There was a corresponding 6.2 percent drop in new listings to 4,442 in January 2016 over the same month from a year ago.

This left the listings-to-sales ratio at 38 percent, which suggests a strong seller's market.

The benchmark price in the REBGV was nearly $1.3 million for detached properties, up 27.9 percent from January 2015.

Apartment properties' benchmark price shot up 19.4 percent over the year, whereas attached property prices rose 16.4 percent over the same period.