There is a narrative about the housing market that has emerged because of the pandemic.

With COVID-19, it goes, some of the allure of big-city living have been lost.

Because of social distancing measures, home buyers are looking for larger living spaces typically found in detached homes and townhouses.

And due to high prices in major downtown cores, people are moving into suburban areas, where homes are bigger and cheaper.

This narrative seems to perfectly describe what is happening in areas covered by the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board.

The FVREB reports that there is a seller’s market for ground-oriented homes in its jurisdiction.

“We are in the middle of a pandemic and in many of our communities we are seeing a strong seller’s market for townhomes and single-family homes priced correctly,” board president Chris Shields said in a media release.

For example, Shields noted that the supply of detached homes in Langley would “sell in 1.4 months if no new listings became available”.

“And for Mission townhomes, we have zero months of inventory,” Shields continued.

The FVREB’s media release Tuesday (November 3) reported about that performance of the market in the month of October 2020.

The board covers Surrey, North Delta, White Rock, Langley, Abbotsford, and Mission

For the month of October, 2,370 detached homes, townhouses, and condos sold in the region.

The number represents a 48.9 percent compared to the 1,592 sales in October 2019.

Last month’s sales also constitute a 6.2 percent rise over the 2,231 deals in September 2020.

According to the FVREB, a single-family home in October sold after an average of 30 days on the market.

For a townhouse, it was 27 days, and condo, 36 days.

Regarding the overall October 2020 market, the FVREB noted that sales reached the “highest point for the month of October in the Board’s history”.

“This is the fourth consecutive month of record-breaking or near-record activity for sales and new listings in the region,” the board reported.