The last 60 days have shown a very consistent pattern across Greater Vancouver real estate: buyers are still buying, but they are being much more careful about price.

Sales have been slow, inventory has given buyers more choice, and homes are taking longer to sell. In North Vancouver, July sales were down across detached homes, condos and townhomes compared with last year. Active listings were also down, while days on market increased across all three property types.

At the same time, prices have moved lower. North Vancouver July prices were down year-over-year by 5.0% for detached homes, 4.4% for condos and 6.0% for townhomes.

I've been tracking this closely, and the main lesson from the past 60 days is simple:

“This is not the market where you test prices. The only homes that are selling are homes that are priced right.”

Insights for Buyers

Buyers have something they have not always had in Greater Vancouver: time and choice. That is showing up in the numbers. North Vancouver condo sales in July were only 4.2% lower than the previous July, but average days on market jumped 72%, from 25 days to 43 days.

That does not mean every good property can be approached the same way. Value still matters. When a well-priced home comes along, buyers need to recognize the difference between having more negotiating power and simply waiting too long. The opportunity is not just to buy for less. It is to compare more homes, study the numbers and be ready when the right property and price come together.

Insights for Sellers

For sellers, the biggest issue is the gap between the price a seller hopes to get and the price today's buyer is willing to pay. Buyers can see the competing listings, recent sales and price reductions. If a property starts too high, there may not be enough urgency in the market to pull buyers toward it.

That is why pricing has become so important. The North Vancouver July sales-to-active listing ratios were remarkably similar across property types: 15.3% for detached homes and 15.8% for both condos and townhomes. No single property type was escaping the slower conditions. A seller needs to compete for the buyers who are actually in the market today.

Market Outlook

There is another side to a softer market that can easily be missed.

For someone selling one property and buying another, the price of the home being sold is only half of the equation. The price of the next home matters too. North Vancouver's Home Price Index shows a good example. From January to June 2026, detached prices increased 3.2%, condo prices increased 0.9%, while townhome prices fell 0.8%.

That created a specific move-up opportunity. The average HPI price gap between a North Vancouver condo and townhome narrowed from $489,600 in January to $472,600 in June — a $17,000 improvement for the condo owner moving up.

So a softer market does not automatically mean a bad market. It depends on what you own, what you want to buy next and how the two parts of the move work together.

The past 60 days point to one main conclusion: price matters more than it did before. Buyers have more time to compare. Sellers face more price resistance. And people making both a sale and a purchase need to look at the full move rather than one price in isolation.

Davis Kosowan, REALTOR®

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