Fraser Valley real estate sales surges in June after COVID-19 slump

Property sales in the Fraser Valley bounced back in June as buyers and sellers adapted to COVID-19 measures, according to the region's real estate board.

The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board says it had 1,718 sales in June, more than double the number of sales in May.

Over the last few months, the pandemic nearly brought the real estate market in the Fraser Valley to a standstill.

"It's never happened in the board's history that we've had an increase of that much from one month to another, from one May to one June," said Chris Shields, president of the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board.

According to Shields, there are three factors at play: historically low interest rates, pent up demand, and buyers and sellers who are feeling a bit more comfortable operating in a post COVID-19 market.

"During the lockdown period with COVID-19, there were a lot of people who were planning on buying or selling and put their plans on hold," Shields said.

"Because we're deemed an essential service, only the people who had to buy and sell were coming out during those months."

Daniel Planko is one of those people who put plans on hold when the pandemic began, but he's finally ready to sell his mother's house.

"When we were ready it was the middle of the lockdown," he said. "Stay at home was the messaging we were getting, so we just stayed at home."

Surrey Realtor Lucky Gill agrees the real estate market has completely turned around since the beginning of the pandemic.

"It's definitely a seller's market right now. We're seeing a lot of demand on the buyers end so we have a lot of organic, multiple offers happening."

However, Gill is still urging some caution.

"Any buyer that's entering into the market needs to do all their homework and make sure that the financial stability, job security, everything's there. They need to do their due diligence before entering. It's a calculated risk."