By Canadian Press

Metro Vancouver home sales down 39.4 per cent in April to near 40-year low

May 4, 2020 | 9:30 AM

VANCOUVER — The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says home sales dropped by 39.4 per cent in April from a year earlier to hit an almost four-decade low.

The board says there were a total of 1,109 home sales in the month, down from the 1,829 sales a year earlier as activity was hit by a full month of physical distance restrictions related to COVID-19.

It says the sales total was 62.7 per cent below the 10-year average for April and the lowest total for the month since 1982.

New home listings were down by 59.7 per cent to 2,313 in April compared with a year earlier, while the total number of active listings was down 34.6 per cent compared with April 2019.

The board says the sales-to-active listings ratio was 11.8 per cent, just nudging into the level analysts consider as signalling potential for downward pressure on prices.

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Prices however held for April with the composite benchmark index price up 2.5 per cent from a year earlier, and up 0.2 per cent from March, at $1.04 million.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 4, 2020.

The Canadian Press