Staycationing in Newfoundland and Labrador appears to be behind a greater number of local cabin and summer home purchases.

Despite COVID-19, July is going down as the best month in local real estate sales in decades, and August is on-par with an average year.

Bill Stirling, CEO of the NL Realtors Association says people whose employment wasn’t affected by the pandemic are looking at vacation properties closer to home as they come to the realization that travel may be out of the question for some time.

He says there is plenty of pent-up demand, while interest rates are low.

Stirling believes staycationing is driving greater interest in the purchase of rural properties.

He says it’s also been good in stimulating more activity among local businesses.