Newly released statistics demonstrate that the Lower Mainland housing market is still in a slowdown.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reported this morning that the number of residential transactions last month was 46.3 percent below the 10-year sales average in March.

There were 1,727 sales. That was off 31.4 percent from the same month last year.

Meanwhile, listings increased by 11.2 percent over March 2018 and 27.2 percent from last month.

There were 16.4 percent more sales in March than in February.

The board's jurisdiction includes most of Metro Vancouver, Whistler, Squamish, and the Sunshine Coast but not North Delta, White Rock, Surrey, and Langley.

“Housing demand today isn’t aligning with our growing economy and low unemployment rates," REBGV president Ashley Smith said in a news release. "The market trends we’re seeing are largely policy induced. For three years, governments at all levels have imposed new taxes and borrowing requirements on to the housing market.”

Apartment home sales were down the most, by 35.3 percent on a year-to-year basis.

The benchmark price for an apartment last month was $656,900, off 5.9 percent from March 2018.

Detached home sales fell 26.7 percent compared to March 2018; the benchmark price is off 7.7 percent in that time to $1.01 million.

Attached home sales declined 27.1 percent over the same period, with the benchmark price now at $783,600. That's down six percent on the year.

While prices continue falling in Vancouver, there are signs of a turnaround in Hong Kong.

Late last month, the South China Morning Post reported that prices rose in the Chinese seaport for the first time in January after five consecutive months of decline.