Home sales and prices in British Columbia are rising in the face of the ongoing pandemic.

It’s affirming what RBC Economics observed that the housing market in the country is proving to be more resilient than expected.

In a new report, the B.C. Real Estate Association (BCREA) stated that 8,166 homes were sold in the province in June 2020.

The number represents a 16.9 percent increase from June 2019.

Also, June 2020 sales mean an 81 percent rise from May 2020 deals involving 4,518 homes.

The average price of a home in B.C. was $748,155 in June 2020.

This price is a 9.1 per cent increase from $685,968 from the same month last year.

The June 2020 average price was higher than the $728,898 average price in May this year.

The total value of home sales in June was $6.1 billion, a 27.5 percent increase over 2019.

“Sales around the province surged back to pre-COVID-19 levels in June," BCREA chief economist Brendon Ogmundson said in a news release Tuesday (July 14).

Year-to-date, the dollar volume of residential sales was up 0.6 percent to $24.7 billion, compared with the same period in 2019, according to the BCREA.

The BCREA also reported that unit sales year-to-date were down eight percent to 32,875 units, while the average price was up 9.4 percent to $751,722.

Ogmundson said: “While there are some temporary factors that may have pushed demand forward, we are cautiously optimistic that market activity will remain firm."