Market report · September 2026
Prices kept drifting lower across Metro Vancouver in September, and the regional sales rate slipped deeper into buyers’ territory. On the North Shore, the two cities moved in opposite directions on supply, and that split matters more for pricing this fall than the regional average does.
The short version
The region is soft and getting softer. 1,717 sales were 25 per cent below the ten-year September average. The composite benchmark is $1,075,900, down 5.5 per cent over the year. For every 100 homes for sale, about 10 sold.
West Vancouver detached supply has thinned out. New detached listings fell 42 per cent from last September while sales rose 17 per cent. Prices are still easing, but this is how a floor usually starts to form.
North Vancouver refilled after a quiet August. New listings roughly doubled month over month. Detached buyers kept up. Apartment buyers did not, with sales down almost half from a year ago.
Borrowing got more expensive without the Bank of Canada moving. Five-year bond yields climbed through September and sub-4% fixed mortgages disappeared. The next rate decision is October 28.
GVGreater Vancouver
Sales fell further behind normal while inventory stayed well above it. That combination keeps gentle downward pressure on prices.
The sales-to-active listings ratio measures how much of the available supply sells in a month. Below 12 per cent, prices have historically tended to fall. Above 20 per cent, they tend to rise. September came in at 10.5 per cent.
That is weaker than August, when sales were higher against slightly less inventory. It confirms the board’s view that the second half of 2026 is running behind the first.
The weakness is concentrated in apartments. Across the board’s areas, apartment sales fell 18.6 per cent from last September. Detached sales were up about 4 per cent, and townhouse sales were flat.
Buyers who can stretch to a house are still transacting. The first-time and investor end of the market is the one stepping back, which fits with fixed rates rising through the month.
Greater Vancouver benchmark prices
| Type | Benchmark | 1 mo | 6 mo | 1 yr | 10 yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All residential | $1,075,900 | −0.5% | −2.6% | −5.5% | +7.5% |
| Detached | $1,784,700 | −0.8% | −3.8% | −7.3% | +4.5% |
| Townhouse | $1,016,700 | −1.2% | −2.9% | −4.7% | +49.5% |
| Apartment | $682,500 | −0.5% | −3.4% | −6.2% | +36.8% |
Price path, last twelve months
Composite benchmark for all property types, indexed to 100 in September 2025. A reading of 94.5 means prices are 5.5 per cent lower than a year ago.
01West Vancouver
The detached benchmark is still falling. What changed in September is the supply behind it.
West Vancouver had the clearest supply story of the three areas. 124 new detached listings came to market, 42 per cent fewer than last September. Sales went the other way, up 17 per cent to 41.
The year-to-date numbers show the same pattern over a longer stretch. Detached sales are slightly ahead of 2025, at 282 against 274, while new listings are down 13 per cent.
Prices have not turned. The detached benchmark fell 0.9 per cent in the month and 8.8 per cent over six months. West Vancouver remains the weakest area on the long view, with the composite down 26.7 per cent over ten years.
But fewer owners are willing to sell at today’s prices, and buyers are absorbing a larger share of what does come out. When that continues for a few months, price declines usually slow before they stop.
The September detached median of $2,330,000 is well below last year’s $3,180,000. With only 41 sales, a few more homes at the lower end shift that number a lot. The benchmark is the better guide to what a typical house is worth.
Detached
Apartment
West Vancouver benchmark prices
| Type | Benchmark | 1 mo | 6 mo | 1 yr | 10 yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All residential | $2,244,700 | −1.1% | −6.4% | −7.4% | −26.7% |
| Detached | $2,822,900 | −0.9% | −8.8% | −9.9% | −21.9% |
| Apartment | $1,097,300 | −2.2% | −1.3% | −5.7% | +9.6% |
September sales and new listings, West Vancouver and Howe Sound
| Type | Sales | Last yr | Listings | Last yr | Median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detached | 41 | 35 | 124 | 214 | $2,330,000 |
| Townhouse | 4 | 3 | 15 | 16 | n/a |
| Apartment | 15 | 13 | 37 | 45 | n/a |
You have less to choose from than a year ago, so the best-located homes will draw more attention than they did in the spring. Prices are still easing, which leaves room to negotiate on homes that have been listed for a while or need work.
Less competing inventory works in your favour, as long as the price reflects the current benchmark. Homes priced against 2025 values are the ones still sitting. Fall buyers here are active, and they are comparing carefully.
02North Vancouver
In August, North Vancouver was the tightest market on the North Shore. September brought the listings back.
North Vancouver’s August numbers looked strong because very little came to market. That changed in September. New detached listings rose to 188 from 87, townhouse listings doubled to 100, and apartment listings rose to 266 from 156.
Detached demand held up well. 59 houses sold, 20 per cent more than last September. The detached benchmark still fell 2.2 per cent in the month, as buyers suddenly had more to compare.
Apartments. 42 sold, against 80 last September and 62 in August. Only 16 sold for every 100 new listings. The apartment benchmark has held up better than elsewhere, down 3.2 per cent over the year, but that cushion depends on sales recovering.
Townhouses cooled too, from 66 sales per 100 new listings in August to 25. That reflects supply returning more than demand disappearing, but it ends the competitive conditions townhouse buyers faced over the summer.
Detached
Townhouse
Apartment
North Vancouver benchmark prices
| Type | Benchmark | 1 mo | 6 mo | 1 yr | 10 yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All residential | $1,290,400 | −1.1% | −1.6% | −3.9% | +16.9% |
| Detached | $2,042,000 | −2.2% | −3.5% | −6.2% | +18.7% |
| Townhouse | $1,230,400 | −1.4% | −2.0% | −4.9% | +43.2% |
| Apartment | $769,000 | −0.2% | −1.4% | −3.2% | +47.6% |
September sales and new listings
| Type | Sales | Last yr | Listings | Last yr | Median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detached | 59 | 49 | 188 | 219 | $2,075,000 |
| Townhouse | 25 | 29 | 100 | 106 | $1,420,000 |
| Apartment | 42 | 80 | 266 | 275 | $737,000 |
This is the best selection North Vancouver has offered since spring. Apartment buyers have the most leverage right now. Detached buyers have more choice, but well-priced houses are still selling, so it pays to be prepared.
Your competition roughly doubled in a month. Pricing to August’s conditions will likely mean a longer wait. Presentation and an accurate starting price matter more in October than they did in July.
03Vancouver West
The West Side and Downtown combined. Apartment sales held up far better here than across the region.
Vancouver West apartments were steadier than the regional numbers would suggest. 214 sold, only slightly below last year, and new listings fell 14 per cent. That lifted the sales rate to 30 per 100 new listings from 27 a year ago.
Townhouse buyers were active, with sales up 29 per cent from last September. They paid less to get in. The townhouse benchmark fell 2.7 per cent in the month and 7.1 per cent over six months, and the median slipped to $1,330,000 from $1,545,000 a year ago.
Detached. 47 houses sold, down from 68 in August, while new listings rose to 217 from 142. The detached benchmark is $2,916,100, down 8.7 per cent over the year and 16.4 per cent over three years.
The pages shared from the September package do not break out Downtown on its own. The figures here cover Vancouver West as a whole, which includes Downtown.
Apartment sales, September 2026 against September 2025
Townhouse sales per 100 new listings
Vancouver West benchmark prices
| Type | Benchmark | 1 mo | 6 mo | 1 yr | 10 yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All residential | $1,206,600 | −1.3% | −0.7% | −5.3% | −11.3% |
| Detached | $2,916,100 | −0.6% | −0.3% | −8.7% | −17.0% |
| Townhouse | $1,298,500 | −2.7% | −7.1% | −5.5% | +22.6% |
| Apartment | $761,800 | −1.7% | −2.2% | −5.2% | +21.8% |
September sales and new listings
| Type | Sales | Last yr | Listings | Last yr | Median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detached | 47 | 56 | 217 | 245 | $2,919,444 |
| Townhouse | 45 | 35 | 205 | 218 | $1,330,000 |
| Apartment | 214 | 225 | 714 | 827 | $799,000 |
Townhouses are the segment where prices have adjusted most in the past six months, and buyers have noticed. West Side houses offer the most room to negotiate, with listings outpacing sales again this fall.
A well-located apartment in Vancouver West is in a better position than the regional headlines suggest. Detached sellers face more competition than a month ago and should expect buyers to negotiate.
04The wider picture
Rates, inflation, new construction and policy, as of early October 2026.
Policy rate
2.25%
The Bank held its rate on September 2, its seventh straight hold. It also flagged rising inflation risks, which puts a possible increase back on the table. The next decision, with a full Monetary Policy Report, is October 28.
Five-year bond yield
3.42%
The five-year Government of Canada yield, which drives fixed mortgage pricing, reached 3.42 per cent on September 2, close to a one-year high. The lowest available five-year fixed rate rose from about 4.09 to 4.24 per cent during the month, and offers under 4 per cent disappeared.
Inflation
3.0%
Headline inflation held at 3.0 per cent in August, driven largely by gasoline. Core measures sit near 2 per cent. New U.S. tariffs and Canada’s retaliatory tariffs, effective September 8, have not yet shown up in the data.
New construction
0
No new concrete highrise projects launched in Metro Vancouver in the first quarter of 2026, against 152 a year earlier, and roughly 3,945 completed units sat unsold at quarter end. Today that inventory competes with resale condos. Over time, fewer launches mean fewer completions in 2028 and 2029.
Foreign buyers
Jan 1, 2027
Ottawa has signalled it may not simply extend the ban again. Keep it in proportion. Foreign buyers were estimated at 2 to 5 per cent of Vancouver transactions before the ban, and B.C.’s 20 per cent additional transfer tax for foreign buyers stays in place either way.
The takeaway
Oct 28
For most of the past year the question was when rates would fall further. It is now whether they rise. That uncertainty is part of why buyers are cautious, and why it makes sense to arrange financing before the search begins.
What to do with this
If you plan to buy in the next six months, get pre-approved with a rate hold now. Fixed rates rose in September, and a hold protects you if they keep climbing while you search.
If you plan to sell, look at the benchmark change in your area and property type over the past six months, not last year’s sale prices. That is the gap buyers are working from.
If you are waiting for a clearer signal, watch new listings in your area each month. In West Vancouver, falling supply is the first sign of a floor. In North Vancouver, the next two months will show whether September’s listings get absorbed.
If you would like the numbers for your own street or building, I’m happy to put them together. Would a short review of your property be useful?
