Over the past few years, “market conditions” have been a constant thorn in the side of the Greater Vancouver real estate market (and beyond). Market conditions have now become much more favourable to buyers, but the buyers are nonetheless missing, says Greater Vancouver Realtors (GVR).
In March, the region recorded a grand total of 2,091 residential sales, which is 13.4% lower than the 2,415 recorded in March 2024 and 36.8% lower than the 10-year March average of 3,308, according to the latest statistics published by GVR on Wednesday.
It’s certainly not because there aren’t sellers. Last month, 6,455 new listings were added to the market, which is 29% higher than the 5,002 added in March 2024 and 15.8% higher than the 10-year March average of 5,572.
Including those new listings, the total amount of active listings in Greater Vancouver is now up to 14,546, which is 37.9% higher than March 2024 and 44.9% higher than the 10-year March average of 10,038.
Piricing may be a factor — as it’s always been in Greater Vancouver. The benchmark price is now $2,034,400 for single-detached homes, $1,113,100 for attached homes, and $767,300 for condominiums. All three represent increases of between 0.2% and 1.0% from February 2025, although the benchmark price for attached homes and condos are lower than where they were at in March 2024.
Market Analysis
“If we can set aside the political and economic uncertainty tied to the new US administration for a moment, buyers in Metro Vancouver haven’t seen market conditions this favourable in years,” said GVR Director of Economics and Data Analytics Andrew Lis. “Prices have eased from recent highs, mortgage rates are among the lowest we’ve seen in years, and there are more active listings on the MLS than we’ve seen in almost a decade. Sellers appear ready to engage — but so far, buyers have not shown up in the numbers we typically see at this time of year.”
The problem may be, however, that there isn’t really a way to set aside the uncertainty that’s tied to our ongoing trade war with the US, which has clearly affected buyer sentiment — as seen across the country, not just in BC.
If the market can get beyond that, there may some light at the end of the tunnel, though.
“The current market bares resemblance to early 2023 where price trends were generally flat, and sales started the year off slowly before gaining momentum in the spring and summer months,” said Lis.
All of this is happening despite the Bank of Canada slashing its policy interest rate with each announcement it has made since June, something that would undoubtedly have a noticeable positive impact on the market under normal circumstances. For now, though, like those buyers that are on the sidelines, we will have to continue waiting to see how things unfold.