Vancouver area saw lowest home sales in decades in 2025, board says

The last year Vancouver residential real estate was one for the record books—with a dramatic drop in sales in the historically hot market.

Greater Vancouver home sales dropped 12.9 per cent on a year-over-year basis in December, capping a year in which the region saw its lowest annual sales total in more than two decades.

Greater Vancouver Realtors said 1,537 homes changed hands last month, 20.7 per cent below the 10-year seasonal average for December.

The composite benchmark price for all residential properties stood at $1,114,800 at the end of 2025, representing a 4.5 per cent decrease over December 2024 and a 0.8 per cent decrease compared with November 2025.

The board’s chief economist and vice-president of data analytics Andrew Lis called 2025 a year “for the history books,” as total residential sales fell 10.4 per cent from 2024 and 9.3 per cent from 2023.

Last year’s sales total of 23,800 was almost 25 per cent below the 10-year annual sales average.

The board had initially predicted an uptick in activity for 2025 as the year got underway, however demand within the housing market soon slowed as U.S. President Donald Trump kick-started a trade war by levying various tariffs on Canadian goods.

Tim Hill, a real estate agent with Re/Max All Points Realty, said that led to hesitation among buyers, who were unsure if it was the right economic environment for a major purchase like a new home.

“We were in a rut, like the market just wouldn’t get itself going,” said Hill in a phone interview.

“People didn’t have confidence in what the market was doing and where prices would be, even on the short-term horizon.”

Despite the sales decline, Lis noted that sellers were still keen to list their properties.

“Sellers brought the highest total of listings to market on record since the mid-1990s, eclipsing the previous record high in 2008 by a little over 1,000 listings,” he said in a press release.

There were more than 65,000 total properties listed in the region in 2025, an 8.2 per cent increase compared with 2024 and 28.4 per cent above 2023 levels.

The total number of properties listed last year was also 13.1 per cent above the region’s 10-year total annual average.

Inventory levels have come down since mid-year, however.

The board said there are currently 12,550 homes listed for sale in Metro Vancouver, a 14.6 per cent increase compared with December 2024 and 34.8 per cent above the 10-year seasonal average.

In December, 1,849 detached, attached or apartment properties were newly listed for sale in the region, 10.3 per cent more than the same month a year earlier.

Lis said that with sales down and plenty of inventory available, prices have eased across all property types since the start of 2025.

The benchmark price for a detached home in December was $1,879,800, marking a 5.3 per cent decrease from a year earlier and a 1.1 per cent decrease compared with November 2025.

Condo prices were also down 5.3 per cent year-over-year at $710,000, which was 0.6 per cent lower than the previous month. The benchmark price of a townhouse stood at $1,056,600 — five per cent below December 2024 and 0.8 per cent lower than November 2025.

Lis added that borrowing costs fell nearly one full percentage point throughout the year.

“With lower prices, lower borrowing costs, and plenty of inventory to choose from, homebuyers in 2026 are starting the year with favourable conditions,” he said.

“Whether these conditions translate into a market with stronger demand will be the million-dollar question — and we’ll be monitoring this story closely as it unfolds.”

But Hill said he doesn’t foresee a rush from buyers to get off the sidelines now that the calendar has flipped to 2026.

He said many are still in wait-and-see mode, especially in case prices continue to fall.

“I think it’s going to take some economic certainty for people to really come back,” he said, adding there is often a “herd mentality” within the Greater Vancouver real estate market.

“If people are buying, everyone wants to buy and if people are more on the sidelines then more people are hesitant to pull the trigger.”

This report by Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press, was first published Jan. 5, 2026.