Sales are increasing slightly, but prospects for the rest of the year are mixed. What's in store for the city?
Homebuying activity in Vancouver isn’t exactly roaring back to the levels seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the city’s housing market at least eked out a small increase in home prices last month compared with the same time in 2024.
A total of 1,959 properties changed hands in August, up slightly from 1,904 a year prior, according to new Greater Vancouver Realtors (GVR) data.
Still, homeowners hoping prices will start to climb again soon could be waiting a while longer: RE/MAX’s housing market update for the fall projects average sale prices to dip around 10%, spurred in large part by continuing buyer caution and lingering affordability pressures.
Strata fees a continuing headache for buyers
A prominent factor hindering townhouse sales at present, according to Vancouver broker Vincent Tong (pictured top) of DLC Clear Trust Mortgages, is sky-high strata fees – which are often so prohibitive that buyers overlook that segment of the market entirely.
Those fees are mandatory contributions made by owners in a strata corporation, covering the costs of managing shared spaces and facilities. But the payments can vary significantly from property to property depending on a range of factors, and Tong said they’re an increasingly large impediment to buyers.
“We do have a lot of buyers in the small entry-level condo market, around the $500,000 to $600,000 purchase price range,” he told Canadian Mortgage Professional. “But we’re also seeing a lot of activity in the single-family space, the multiplex space - $1.6 million to $2 million. There are a lot of people looking to jump into that phase and kind of skip out on the townhome phase.
Toronto condo prices hit 4-year lows, down 21% since 2022. Ownright’s Joel Fox says valuations still don’t match incomes—suggesting more declines ahead.
— Canadian Mortgage Professional Magazine (@CMPmagazine) September 3, 2025
See what this means for Toronto’s housing outlook.https://t.co/GVMW6cCkVg
“I think strata fees are weighing down on a lot of individuals. It’s a really big consideration because of the amount in strata costs due to insurance, due to additional claims that we see in stratas nowadays [including] a lot of water damage.”
Attached home sales jumped by 10.5% in August over the same time last year – but the number of buyers remains extremely low by historical standards, and benchmark prices for that property type slid by 3.5% year over year and 1.8% from July.
Tong described a “mentality shift” to veer away from expensive townhouses among buyers, particularly because strata fees often rise for even larger townhouses. “So [they] skip over the townhouse phase and try to get into that multiplex or a single-family, because you don’t have that extra $500 to $700 per month liability for a lot of fees,” he said.
Industry remains positive on buyer prospects
RE/MAX expects sales to have declined by 4% by the end of the year, thanks mainly to continuing economic uncertainty as a result of the trade war with the US and increasing unemployment.
But the market is already firmly in buyer’s territory, and while investors and other buyer types might stay away from the market, Tong said he’s still expecting a healthy pace of activity among those who are determined to make a move.
Some Vancouverites have no option but to move home, whether for work or family reasons such as upsizing, and could be buoyed further if interest rates slide between now and the end of the year.
Odds of a Bank of Canada rate cut in September strengthened on Friday as government data showed a sluggish labour market and climbing unemployment rate – bad news for the economy, but a potential sign that rates are set to move lower.
“We’ve been selling rates between 3.99% and 4.24% all year, and just that slight mentality shift of seeing a three in front of their interest rate has gotten a lot of people jumping off the sidelines,” Tong explained.
“I think if we do see another rate cut… people will be saying, ‘OK, we’re still in somewhat of a buyer’s market as a national average. There are opportunities for you to put in offers for a low purchase price.’ So I definitely say that more and more activity will pick up in the latter part of the year if there are more rate cuts.”
Make sure to get all the latest news to your inbox on Canada’s mortgage and housing markets by signing up for our free daily newsletter here.
