Metro Vancouver's sales-to-active listings ratio was 10.9% in September — below the 12% line that separates a balanced market from a buyer's one. In plain terms: there are roughly 16,400 homes for sale and about 1,700 buyers taking them each month.
That doesn't mean homes aren't selling. It means ordinary homes aren't selling. Here's what actually separates the ones that do.
When buyers have 16,000 options, their default isn't to choose yours over the one down the street. Their default is to wait. Every decision you make about price, preparation, and presentation is really answering one question: why should someone act now, on this home?
Buyers search in price bands. Price your home at $1,075,000 when the honest value is $1,025,000, and you don't just look expensive — you disappear entirely from the searches of everyone shopping under $1,050,000. You're competing against better homes in a higher band, and losing.
The first two weeks carry the most traffic a listing will ever get. Pricing above the market spends that attention on the wrong audience, and you rarely get it back. Chasing the market downward with repeated reductions usually nets less than starting honestly would have.
In a fast market, buyers overlook flaws because they're afraid of losing out. In this market, there's no fear of loss — so every unresolved issue becomes a reason to choose a different home, or to demand a discount larger than the actual repair.
This is where my construction background earns its place. Not every defect is worth fixing before listing, but the distinction matters:
Most buyers meet your home as photographs on a phone screen, and decide in seconds whether to book a viewing. Professional photography, a decluttered and genuinely clean home, and good lighting are no longer optional extras — they are the difference between being shortlisted and being scrolled past.
"Should I wait for a better market?" is the wrong question, because nobody can answer it reliably. The better question: what am I doing next? If you're selling to buy another home in this same market, you're also buying with more selection and more negotiating room — so a softer market largely cancels itself out, and may even work in your favour if you're moving up in price. If you're selling and exiting the market entirely, timing matters more, and that's a conversation worth having properly.
Homes still sell in Metro Vancouver every week — detached and townhouse sales actually finished ahead of last September. The ones that sell are honestly priced, visibly well cared for, and properly presented. The ones that sit are usually only one of the three.
If you're weighing a sale, the current numbers are always on my Market Stats page — and I'm glad to give you a straight read on where your specific home sits.
Every home and every timeline is different — I'm happy to walk you through what your situation looks like.