Unless you’ve been living on a desert island for the past few months, you’ve probably heard that Vancouver’s usually red-hot condo market is experiencing its biggest slowdown in more than a decade. While this is clearly not great news for sellers, for buyers in the Lower Mainland, it could represent a once in a generation opportunity.
What’s happening?
According to a recent report by the Greater Vancouver REALTORS® (GVR), condo sales in Metro Vancouver dropped by nearly 20% in April 2025 compared to the same period last year. That’s almost double the average month-over-month decline for sales of all types of residential properties, including single family homes, townhouses, and non-strata apartments.
The GVR also noted that there are more than 2,000 new condo units currently sitting empty and unsold across the city. In terms of the broader housing market, there are around 16,000 listings currently for sale in Metro Vancouver on the MLS listing service. That’s a 30% increase in the number of properties listed for sale compared to April 2024, and about 47.6% above the 10-year seasonal average.
The culprits? Not surprisingly, most experts point to three main reasons for the downturn: the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on local and national housing markets, the higher mortgage interest rates we’ve been seeing over the past few years, and ongoing uncertainty over the trade tariffs being imposed on Canadian goods and services by the United States.
What does it mean?
The impact of this sudden downturn in sales is already being felt across much of the region. For developers, the excess supply of condos for sale has led some to hit the pause button on new projects. Others who were in the early stages of development have had to outright cancel their pre-sales and return the deposits they’d already collected to their prospective buyers.
For sellers, the downturn means the days of bidding wars are over (at least for now). Those who need to sell might have to wait longer or accept a lower offer than they would’ve been prepared to consider just a few months ago. For others, it could mean getting used to a longer sales process, or possibly taking their property off the market for a while until conditions improve.
For buyers, however, the headlines could point to a very different outcome. For one thing, higher inventories and fewer sales means there’s very little competition out there for buyers right now. As a result, Vancouver buyers are suddenly in the driver’s seat for the first time in recent memory.
For example, dropping sales mean buyers have more options to choose from, greater flexibility over things like closing dates and pre-purchase conditions, and considerably more bargaining power than they’ve had in years. Perhaps more importantly, the high inventory of unsold listings has also led to a drop in prices, with the average price of a condo in Vancouver falling almost 2% in April alone.
Of course, the economic headwinds can change on a dime, and the downturn won’t last forever. But for those who have the means to make the jump and who are willing to act quickly, the current buyer’s market—combined with recent cuts in the Bank of Canada’s benchmark interest rate—means there are some pretty great deals available in Vancouver right now for both investors and condo buyers who are ready and able to take advantage of them.
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Want to find out how the downturn in Metro Vancouver’s condo market might affect you? Contact us today for a free consultation!