Opportunity For Buyers Knocking... Will They Answer?

The real estate market in Metro Vancouver has slowed down quite a bit this spring. In April 2025, there were just over 2,100 homes sold — that’s about 24% fewer sales compared to April of last year. To put it in perspective, this year’s April sales were also nearly 30% below what we usually see for this time of year, based on the 10-year average.



“From a historical perspective, the slower sales we’re now seeing stand out as unusual, particularly against a backdrop of significantly improved borrowing conditions, which typically helps to boost sales,” said Andrew Lis, GVR’s director of economics and data analytics. “What’s also unusual is starting the year with Canada’s largest trading partner threatening to tilt our economy into recession via trade policy, while at the same time having Canadians head to the polls to elect a new federal government. These issues have been hard to ignore, and the April home sales figures suggest some buyers have continued to patiently wait out the storm.”


In April 2025, fewer than 6,900 homes were newly listed for sale in Metro Vancouver, which is a bit fewer than April of last year — down about 3%. However, it’s still much higher than what we usually see for this time of year — nearly 20% above the 10-year average.

Right now, there are over 16,200 homes available for sale across the region, which is almost 30% more than there were in April 2024, and nearly 50% above the long-term average. In short, buyers have a lot more options today than they did a year ago.

When we look at how quickly homes are selling, the sales-to-active listings ratio gives us a clue. In April, that ratio was 13.8% overall. Breaking it down by product type:

Detached homes: 9.9%
Townhomes (attached): 17.5%
Apartments: 15.7%

What does that mean? Historically, when this ratio drops below 12% for a while, prices tend to go down. If it stays above 20% for a few months, prices usually start to rise. Right now, we’re somewhere in the middle — suggesting a more balanced or slightly soft market, depending on the property type.

“While the headlines have been filled with worrying news lately, there are positives in the current market worth highlighting, especially for buyers,” Lis said. “Inventory levels have just crested 16,000 for the first time since 2014, prices have stayed fairly stable for the past few months, and borrowing costs are the lowest they’ve been in years. These factors benefit buyers, and with balanced conditions across the market overall, there’s plenty of opportunity for anyone looking to make a purchase.”