Vancouver prices slip again as buyers keep the edge
Metro Vancouver prices fell again in October. The benchmark price was lower than a year earlier for detached houses, townhouses and apartments, and lower than in September too. Detached houses are now 7.0% below October 2025.
Both sides of the market held back. Greater Vancouver REALTORS (GVR) reports 2,024 sales, down 10.2% from a year earlier and 22.5% below the 10-year average for October. New listings fell 11.6%. Yet there are still 15,688 homes for sale, 24% more than usual for this time of year. That is what keeps buyers in charge.
What do the October numbers show?
Greater Vancouver REALTORS (GVR), Metro Vancouver:
Buyers have the upper hand in every property type, most of all in detached homes.
Detached houses: about 8.6 months of inventory (buyer's market).
Apartments: about 7.4 months of inventory (buyer's market).
Attached homes (mostly townhouses): about 6.1 months of inventory, just over the line into a buyer's market.
Detached sales fell 7.2% to 643. Apartment sales fell 16.7% to 892. Attached sales held up best, down 1.9% to 468.
Benchmark prices fell in all three types from October 2025: detached $1,775,200 (down 7.0%), townhouses $1,006,500 (down 5.5%) and apartments $673,400 (down 5.9%). The composite benchmark for all homes is $1,068,600, down 5.2%.
*YoY: year-over-year change, October 2026 against October 2025.
Source: Greater Vancouver REALTORS®, October 2026 (MLS® HPI benchmark prices).
General information, not advice.
What do median prices say?
GVR does not publish a median price for the whole region, only by area. We use Vancouver East as the yardstick. It leaves out the luxury houses of Vancouver West and the luxury condos downtown, so its median is closer to what a typical Metro Vancouver buyer pays.
In Vancouver East, the median detached house sold for $1,665,000 in October, down 10.0% from $1,850,000 a year earlier. The median apartment sold for $640,000, up 1.6% from $630,000. Detached prices are clearly lower; apartment prices in Vancouver East have held steady, even as the benchmark for apartments across the region fell 5.9%.
Other areas, for comparison:
*YoY: year-over-year change, October 2026 against October 2025. Source: Greater Vancouver REALTORS® MLS® Sales Facts, October 2026 and October 2025; changes calculated by Properti Edge. Vancouver East had 87 detached and 83 apartment sales in October. General information, not advice.
Benchmark or median: which one should you watch?
Both. The benchmark tracks a typical home with the same features from month to month, so it is steady and slow to turn. The median is the middle price of the homes that actually sold, so it reacts first. In our experience the median often leads the benchmark by a month or two, which makes it an early signal. In Vancouver East the two disagree in an interesting way. The detached median fell 10.0%, more than the area's detached benchmark (down 8.3%), so further softening in detached prices is more likely than not. The apartment median rose 1.6% while the area's apartment benchmark fell 3.9%, a hint that the slide in apartment prices may be slowing. By "more likely than not" we mean better than even odds, not a forecast of a specific price. One month of medians in one area can also reflect which homes happened to sell, so watch whether the pattern holds in November.
Is the market starting to turn?
Not yet. GVR's own rule of thumb is that prices come under downward pressure when the sales-to-active-listings ratio stays below 12%, and upward pressure when it stays above 20%. In October the ratio was 11.6% for detached homes, 13.5% for apartments and 16.5% for attached homes. Detached homes are still below the line.
GVR's chief economist, Andrew Lis, points to a busy month of distractions: the Bank of Canada's rate hike and a snap provincial election. He describes 2026 as "a continued pattern of one step forward, one step back." He also notes that financial markets see a slight chance of another quarter-point hike in December, which may push some buyers with expiring rate holds to act sooner.
How does Vancouver compare with Toronto and Calgary?
Sources: TRREB Market Watch, Greater Vancouver REALTORS® and CREB monthly statistics, October 2026; months of inventory and median changes calculated by Properti Edge. Vancouver's months of inventory come from GVR's sales-to-active-listings ratio. GVR publishes median prices by area only, so Vancouver's median is for Vancouver East, which leaves out the luxury houses of Vancouver West and the luxury condos downtown. General information, not advice.
Vancouver is the only one of the three where buyers have the edge in detached homes, and its detached benchmark has fallen the most. Calgary is the opposite: detached homes are still a seller's market.
What should buyers and sellers take from this?
- Buyers: you have choice and time. Prices are lower than a year ago in every property type, and inventory is well above normal for October. Check what you qualify for after the October 28th rate hike before you shop.
- Sellers: you are competing with more listings than usual, and the benchmark is still edging down each month. Price for the market you are in, not the one you remember.
- Owners not moving: a lower benchmark only matters on the day you sell or renew against your home's value.
What should you watch next?
GVR's November release (early December), the first full month after the Bank of Canada raised its policy rate by 0.25% to 2½% on October 28th.
The detached sales-to-active ratio. A sustained move above 12% would ease the pressure on prices.
Apartment prices in North Vancouver and Vancouver West, where medians fell most.
From Properti Edge
Check the market you are actually buying in
Vancouver East and North Vancouver are moving in different directions. Ask the Properti Edge AI Advisor about your area and property type, and it gives you sales, listings, months of inventory and benchmark and median prices, with the month stated.
General information, not advice.
This is general information, not advice. Speak to a real estate agent or mortgage broker, depending on your situation, before acting.
