Metro Vancouver’s housing market continues to sizzle amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
More than 3,700 properties were sold in the month of February, according to numbers from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, a 73-per-cent increase from a year ago and nearly 43 per cent higher than the 10-year average for the month.
Sales are particularly strong in the Fraser Valley.
Last month’s housing sales in the region were the highest in history, according to the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board.
February marked the sixth consecutive month for record-breaking sales in the valley.
“This is new territory for us,” Fraser Valley Real Estate Board president Chris Shields said. “We have never seen such consistent and persistent demand for housing in the Fraser Valley.”
Shields attributes the rise in demand to “record-low interest rates and the response to the pandemic.”
Board CEO Baldev Gill said many people are looking for more space to work from home and are no longer commuting to an urban centre for work.
In addition, supply is down with a 28-per-cent drop in listings over this time last year.
Last week, the Bank of Canada warned that the country’s housing market was showing “early signs” of overheating.