Home sales remain subdued across Lower Mainland despite lower prices | Daily Hive

Home sales remain subdued across Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley despite lower prices

The newly built Pier West residential towers on Fraser River waterfront of downtown New Westminster. (Kenneth Chan)

Homebuyers across the Lower Mainland are finding more choice and improved affordability amid a continued market slowdown, but many remain hesitant to make a move amid the current economic climate.

According to new statistics for the month of May 2026 released today by Greater Vancouver Realtors (GVR) and the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board (FVREB), sales remained very slow compared to historical trends, and the available listings supply stayed high, with prices continuing to decline across most housing types.

Together, the combined jurisdictions of GVR and FVREB recorded 3,274 home sales during the month, down from the same period last year. This includes 2,150 sales in GVR and 1,124 in FVREB.

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GVR’s jurisdiction spans much of Metro Vancouver, entailing Vancouver, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, New Westminster, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Richmond, South Delta, Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, and Bowen Island, as well as the Sunshine Coast, Squamish, and Whistler.

The FVREB includes a major portion of Metro Vancouver, including Surrey, Langley, White Rock, and North Delta, as well as the Fraser Valley cities of Abbotsford and Mission.

The benchmark price for all residential properties in GVR was $1.10 million in May 2026, down 6.2 per cent from May 2025 and a decrease of 0.2 per cent from April 2026. In FVREB, the benchmark price fell to $893,300, representing a drop of 7.3 per cent year-over-year.

Townhome benchmark prices in GVR also fell by five per cent to $1.05 million compared to a year ago. However, compared to April 2026, this was a 0.5 per cent month-over-month increase. In FVREB, the benchmark prices for townhomes reached $770,000, representing a 7.6 per cent decrease from May 2025 and a 0.3 per cent decline from April 2026.

There were 463 GVR townhome sales in May 2026 — a 1.3 per cent decrease from the same period in 2025. For FVREB, 309 townhome sales were recorded over the same month, representing a 0.3 per cent uptick from May 2025 but a nine per cent increase from April 2026.

Condominiums saw some of the largest price drops, with benchmark prices falling 7.9 per cent in GVR to $698,000 and 8.8 per cent in FVREB to $484,000.

A total of 1,009 condominiums were sold in GVR in May 2026 — a 7.2 per cent drop compared to May 2025. The decrease in sales for this housing type was even more pronounced in FVREB, where there were 263 sales in May 2026, representing a 23 per cent year-over-year plummet.

Single-family detached houses in GVR saw a $1.85 million benchmark price in May 2026 — a 6.9 per cent decrease from May 2025 and a 0.4 per cent drop from April 2026. In FVREB, single-family detached house benchmark prices reached $1.37 million in May 2026, which is 7.9 per cent down from the same month last year and 0.6 per cent down from April 2026.

Sales for single-family detached houses in GVR reached 660, representing a 0.9 per cent increase from May 2025. Within FVREB, 413 single-family detached houses were sold over the course of May 2026, representing a two per cent year-over-year increase and a 4.6 per cent month-over-month increase.

“Price trends across all housing types were flat month-over-month, as a healthy level of inventory easily absorbed the relatively muted level of overall demand in the market. Year-to-date, sales have come in just shy of our forecast to this point in the year,” said Andrew Lis, GVR’s chief economist and vice-president of data analytics, in a statement.

“With demand tracking our forecast so closely, it’s reasonable to expect a calm and orderly summer market, as no obvious near-term catalysts loom over the horizon to move the market significantly in either direction.”

Ishaq Ismail, chair of the FVREB, added, “We’re seeing limited activity from first-time buyers right now, with much of the market being driven by homeowners looking to move up. As prices in the detached segment have become more attainable, buyers with existing equity are finding opportunities to transition into larger homes and market segments that were out of reach just a few years ago.”

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