Suburban Metro Vancouver apartment sales slump to 20-year low | Daily Hive

Suburban Metro Vancouver apartment sales hit 20-year low

Apartment towers in Burnaby, where suburban sales have fallen to historic lows (Volodymyr Kyrylyuk/Shutterstock)

Metro Vancouver apartment sales slumped in the first half of 2025, with suburban sales falling to their lowest level in more than two decades, according to a new mid-year report from Goodman Commercial.

The report shows that just six suburban apartment buildings changed hands between January and June, worth $128.4 million, a drop of 81 per cent in transactions and 72 per cent in dollar volume compared to the same period in 2024.

Even during the 2008 global financial crisis and the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, more deals were recorded.

City of Vancouver sales held steady, with 26 transactions totalling $408.9 million. That’s only slightly below last year’s numbers and more than double the activity seen in early 2023.

“A snapshot in time”

Mark Goodman, principal at Goodman Commercial and publisher of the Goodman Report, told Daily Hive that the sharp decline is less about a market collapse and more about context.

“The numbers look dramatic, but it’s really just a snapshot in time,” Goodman told Daily Hive.

“The first half of 2024 was inflated by two big forces… the province’s $500-million Rental Protection Fund, which gave non-profits an unusual burst of buying power, and sellers rushing to close deals ahead of proposed capital gains tax changes. Those conditions were an anomaly. Once the funding dried up and the tax changes were shelved, activity naturally slowed.”

Goodman said that uncertainty around land-use policies in Burnaby has also weighed heavily on suburban sales.

Last year, Burnaby saw 10 sales in the first six months. This year, there were just two.

Who’s buying?

Despite the slowdown, new construction continued to dominate dollar volume, accounting for 64 per cent of sales.

The average deal size for new builds was $42.9 million, compared to $8.1 million for older rental stock.

Private investors made up the bulk of buyers at 74 per cent, while institutional investors accounted for 18 per cent and government or non-profits just nine per cent, a return to historical norms after last year’s surge in taxpayer-funded non-profit purchases.

Average pricing remained relatively stable, with per-unit values essentially flat in Vancouver and up modestly in the suburbs.

Goodman expects more momentum in the second half of 2025.

“We already have a number of deals lined up that haven’t been disclosed yet,” he said.

“I believe the latter half of the year will be much busier, possibly even explosive in terms of activity.”

Still, Goodman flagged policy headwinds as his biggest concern heading into 2026, citing restrictive rent increase caps, high taxes, and lengthy entitlement processes.

“My biggest worry is government intervention that discourages investment in rental housing,” he said.

“We need to reduce construction costs, speed up approvals, and create a more balanced Residential Tenancy Act if we want a healthy market.”

That concern echoes a broader debate playing out across the province.

Just last week, the B.C. government announced the 2026 rent increase cap at 2.3 per cent, sparking frustration among landlords and tenants alike.

Some renters said the limit doesn’t reflect the rising costs of taxes, utilities, and maintenance, while others argue even small hikes are unsustainable given stagnant wages and already sky-high rents.

For renters, Goodman stressed the report’s findings are more about transaction volumes than affordability. “They’re not directly linked,” he said.

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