Sales of existing homes reached a record high for the month of December, according the Canadian Real Estate Association, with annual sales coming in above 2008 levels. “Sales activity in 2009 came in like a lamb and went out like a lion,” CREA president Dale Ripplinger said today.

“The continuation of unusually low interest rates may keep national sales activity near current levels over the coming months, as will a blip in housing demand in Ontario and British Columbia from homebuyers motivated to beat the introduction of the HST (harmonized sales tax).”

There were 27,744 units sold in December, up 72% from a year earlier “when activity dropped to the lowest level in a decade,” CREA said.

Record highs for the month were reported in Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland and Labrador, the industry group said.

There were 465,251 homes sold last year, up 7.7% from 2008 to the fourth highest annual level on record.

On an annual basis, sales were still down 10.7% in 2009 from the peak reached in 2007.