Saturday, January 24, 2026
ADVT 
National

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

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 04 May, 2020 04:34 PM
  • Metro Vancouver home sales down 39.4 per cent in April to near 40-year low

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.

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.

MORE National ARTICLES

COVID kills dozens more nursing home residents; emergency payouts top $22.4B

COVID kills dozens more nursing home residents; emergency payouts top $22.4B
Dozens more deaths in long-term care homes were reported Friday as new figures indicated the extent of the economic dislocation caused by isolation measures aimed at mitigating the spread of the highly contagious COVID-19 virus. The latest government figures showed more than seven million people had applied for the $2,000-a-month Canada Emergency Response Benefit, with the federal government having paid out $22.4 billion close to the amount budgeted.

COVID kills dozens more nursing home residents; emergency payouts top $22.4B

U.S. seals the deal on USMCA, says trade agreement can now take effect July 1

U.S. seals the deal on USMCA, says trade agreement can now take effect July 1
The United States has cleared the way for its long-awaited trade agreement with Canada and Mexico to go into effect July 1. The U.S. notified its North American trading partners today that it has finished the domestic housekeeping work called for in the agreement, a step the other two countries completed earlier this month.

U.S. seals the deal on USMCA, says trade agreement can now take effect July 1

Poultry plant in Coquitlam, B.C., closed by health authority over COVID-19

Poultry plant in Coquitlam, B.C., closed by health authority over COVID-19
A poultry processing plant in Coquitlam, B.C., has been closed by Fraser Health after an outbreak of COVID-19 among its workers. The health authority says two workers at the facility operated by Superior Poultry Processors Ltd. have tested positive for the virus and all employees have been screened.

Poultry plant in Coquitlam, B.C., closed by health authority over COVID-19

Expectant mothers to get financial help: Feds

Expectant mothers to get financial help: Feds
Expectant mothers who have been left out of a key COVID-19 emergency-aid program will receive financial help, and will qualify for federal benefits when they go on maternity leave, says Canada's employment minister. Pregnant women who applied for employment insurance at the outset of the pandemic have found that they weren't automatically transferred over to the Canada Emergency Response Benefit when it became available earlier this month.

Expectant mothers to get financial help: Feds

Trudeau unveils rent relief for small businesses hurt by COVID-19

Trudeau unveils rent relief for small businesses hurt by COVID-19
The federal government is providing rent relief to businesses that can't afford to pay their landlords at a time when their operations are seriously curtailed or shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The federal help, expected to lower rent by 75 per cent for affected small businesses, will be provided in partnership with the provinces and territories, which have jurisdiction over rents.

Trudeau unveils rent relief for small businesses hurt by COVID-19

Nova Scotia mass shooter had unlicensed guns: police

Nova Scotia mass shooter had unlicensed guns: police
Police say the man who went on a murderous rampage through five Nova Scotia communities was likely using unlicensed firearms, and investigators are trying find out how he obtained illegal weapons.

Nova Scotia mass shooter had unlicensed guns: police