After an extensive market downturn caused by economic conditions, there are promising signs that the real estate market is turning the corner, according to the latest statistics published by Greater Vancouver Realtors (GVR) on Tuesday.
In July, the Greater Vancouver region recorded a total of 2,286 home sales, which was 2% below the 2,333 recorded in July 2024 and 13.9% below the 10-year July average of 2,656. However, last month's sales marks an improvement considering the significant gaps in recent months. May was 18.5% lower year over year, while June was 9.8% lower year over year.
On the other side of the equation, last month saw 5,642 new listings come online, which was 0.8% higher than the 5,597 added in July 2024 and 12.4% higher than the 10-year July average of 5,018.
With that new batch of listings, the total amount of active listings in the Greater Vancouver real estate market is now up to 17,168, which is 19.8% higher than the 14,326 total at this time last year and 40.2% higher than the 10-year July average of 12,249.
Although there are various concerns about the market downturn, one positive has been that prices have come down, and that trend continued last month.
The composite residential benchmark price is now at $1,165,300, which is down 0.7% from June 2025 and down 2.7% from July 2024. By property type, the benchmark price is now $1,974,400 for single-detached homes, $1,099,200 for townhouses, and $743,700 for condominiums. All three represent decreases of between 0.4% and 1.0% from June 2025, and decreases of between 2.3% and 3.6% from July 2024.
Market Analysis
According to the GVR statistics, the sales-to-active-listings ratio is now at 13.8%. A ratio of 12% or lower is considered a buyers' market and a ratio of 20% or higher is considered a sellers' market, thus the market is currently at a healthy balance that favours neither side. There are, however, nuances depending on the property type, as the ratio is 10.2% for single-detached homes, 16.7% for townhouses, and 15.9% for condos.
"With the rate of homes coming to market holding steady in July, the inventory of homes available for sale on the MLS has stabilized at around 17,000," said GVR Director of Economics and Data Analytics Andrew Lis. "This level of inventory provides buyers plenty of selection to choose from. Although sales activity is now recovering, this healthy level of inventory is sufficient to keep home prices trending sideways over the short term as supply and demand remain relatively balanced. However, if the recovery in sales activity accelerates, these favourable conditions for home buyers may begin slowly slipping away, as inventory levels decline, and home sellers gain more bargaining power."
Making matters better, perhaps, is the certainty stemming from the Bank of Canada's (BoC) decision last week to hold its policy interest rate at 2.75% — the third consecutive hold.
"The June data showed early signs of sales activity in the region turning a corner, and these latest figures for July are confirming this emerging trend," added Lis. "Although the Bank of Canada held the policy rate steady in July, this decision could help bolster sales activity by providing more certainty surrounding borrowing costs at a time where economic uncertainty lingers due to ongoing trade negotiations with the USA."
The BoC rate announcement last week is presumably a positive for the market, but trade tensions between Canada and the United States also started to rise again last week as the two countries failed to reach a trade agreement. We will have to wait until next month's statistics release to see which of those forces wins out.
