![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/vancouver_walk.jpg\")
<\/a>Photo:\u00a0Kyle Ryan<\/a>\u00a0\/ Unsplash<\/a><\/em><\/p>\nVancouver home sales rose in the first 15 days of June when compared to the same period in 2019. <\/p>\n
This is the first time sales have increased relative to 2019 totals since the first half of March, before the pandemic took hold and froze up the Vancouver region\u2019s housing market.<\/p>\n\n
There were 1,064 home sales in the Greater Vancouver Area in the first half of June, according to MLS data published Wednesday by Dexter Realty Managing Partner Kevin Skipworth. That\u2019s up a modest one percent compared to the same period in 2019 and 55 percent over the first half of May 2020.<\/p>\n
While the year-over-year rise in sales may sound paltry, especially when considering 2019 was already a below average year for Vancouver home sales, Skipworth believes the momentum is a positive signal for the market.<\/p>\n
\u201cHome sales in Greater Vancouver are ahead of where they were at this time last year in June \u2013 marginally, but ahead,\u201d wrote Skipworth in an email on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cConsidering where we\u2019ve been, that\u2019s a positive step in the real estate market and a sign of how much pent up demand and supply exists. Since the middle of May, the market has shown more activity and June is carrying on with that theme,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
New listings also picked up in June\u2019s first half over the same time in 2019, with 3,043 homes listed compared to 2,651 last year. Skipworth noted, however, that total active listings in Greater Vancouver were still significantly below where they stood last year, 11,555 by mid-June compared to 15,697 at the same point in 2019.<\/p>\n