Real estate boards for Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley say both areas smashed their local home sales records in 2021.
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says home sales in Metro Vancouver rose 42.2 per cent to 43,999 in 2021 compared with 30,944 in 2020.
The previous record was 42,326 set in 2015.
The record year came as home sales in the region in December totalled 2,688, down from 3,093 sales recorded in December 2020 and 3,428 homes sold in November 2021.
The benchmark price for all residential properties increased 17.3 per cent from the prior year to $1.23 million.
Sales of detached homes in December 2021 totalled 794, down from 1,026 sales in December 2020, attached home sales fell to 430 compared with 593 a year earlier and apartment home sales dipped to 1,464 in December, from 1,474 a year earlier.
The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board (FVREB) says it processed 27,692 sales in its Multiple Listing Service in 2021 — an increase of 39 per cent compared to 19,926 sales in 2020.
The 2021 numbers are 15 per cent higher than the previous record of 23,974 sales in 2016.
“No one could have predicted how the pandemic would impact the real estate market,” said FVREB president Larry Anderson in a Wednesday news release.
“Our region’s relative affordability, combined with a newfound ability to work from home and the value for housing dollar in the Fraser Valley attracted buyers in numbers like we’ve never seen.”
Sales of detached homes soared by 31.8 per cent in in 2021 compared to 2020, while townhome sales increased by 33.7 per cent and apartments increased by 68.9 per cent, said the board.
The benchmark price for a singe family detached home increased 39 per cent from December 2020 to $1.5 million, it added, and 32.9 per cent for townhomes, whose benchmark price is now $765,800.
With files from Global News’ Elizabeth McSheffrey