WASHINGTON: Record low mortgage rates amid the coronavirus pandemic fuelled a US housing boom last year, pushing existing home sales to the highest since 2006, according to a survey released Friday.

Existing home sales totalled 5.64 million in 2020, 5.6 percent higher than in 2019, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said.

Even as prices rose due to high demand and constrained supply, low borrowing rates and the pandemic’s disruptions to daily life allowed those who could afford it to buy homes.

In December, the pace of sales rose more than expected to 6.76 million annualized, 0.7 percent more than November but 22.2 percent higher than the same month last year.

Homebuilders have struggled to keep up as sales of new and existing homes boomed, with inventory dropping to 1.07 million units, 16.4 percent lower than November and down 23 percent from the year-ago period. Unsold inventory is at a 1.9-month supply, NAR said, an all-time low.

Strong demand caused prices to jump 12.9 percent in December from the same month in 2019 to a median of $309,800.