TORONTO -- Toronto Regional Real Estate Board says home sales were strong in the first half of March but then started to slow down because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sales of 8,012 homes for the whole month was a 12.3 per cent climb from last year.

The board says home sales were up 49 per cent in the first two weeks compared with last year, but sales were down 15.9 per cent compared with last year for the rest of the month.

Board president Michael Collins says that both physical distancing measures and economic uncertainty have led to the slowdown in the market.

New listings for the whole month were up three per cent to 14,424, but listings dropped by 18.4 per cent in the latter half of the month compared with last year.

The board says the average selling price in March was up by 14.5 per cent to $902,680, while the average selling price for the second half of the month alone was up 10.5 per cent.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 3, 2020.