Vancouver home sales surge 53.4 per cent, setting new record for December

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says home sales were up 53.4 per cent in the final month of 2020 compared with December 2019, hitting a new record for the month.

The board says 3,093 homes were sold in December, up from 2,016 in December 2019 and slightly more than the 3,064 homes sold in November.

Vancouver real estate agents sold 1,026 detached homes, a 71.3 jump from December 2019.

The board says the composite home price in Vancouver ended the year at $1,047,400, up 5.4 percent from the same time last year.

Board chair Colette Gerber says the COVID-19 pandemic has been a major cause of the unusual home sales pattern, in what is traditionally quietest month for the real estate market.

Gerber says the pandemic brought the housing market to a near standstill in March, but demand for housing returned through summer, fall and winter– intensified by low interest rates.