After a rocky start to the year, Metro Vancouver’s housing market is showing signs of stabilization, while commercial real estate is seeing a surprising lift from office transactions, according to the latest data from Greater Vancouver Realtors (GVR).
Residential sales across Metro Vancouver totalled 2,181 in June 2025, down 9.8 per cent from the same month last year.
However, that’s a notable improvement from May’s year-over-year decline, which was nearly double the previous year's.
“On a trended basis, signs are emerging that sales activity is rounding the corner after a challenging first half to the year,” said Andrew Lis, GVR’s director of economics and data analytics, in a press release. “If this momentum continues, it may not be long before sales are up year-over-year.”
On the Sunshine Coast, detached home sales dipped to 45 in June, down from 51 in May.
The benchmark price for a detached home in the region is now $891,600, a 4.4 per cent drop from June 2024.
Apartment sales also slowed, with just two units sold in June, and a benchmark price of $509,700 — down 18.1 per cent year-over-year.
Townhouse sales were flat, with no units sold in June, and a benchmark price of $756,900.
Inventory across Metro Vancouver remains high, with 17,561 properties listed on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) system — up 23.8 per cent from June 2024 and 43.7 per cent above the 10-year seasonal average.
Despite this, Lis noted in the release that “inventory levels aren’t building as quickly as we’ve seen lately,” helping keep prices relatively stable.
The composite benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver is $1,173,100, down 2.8 per cent from last year.
Meanwhile, the commercial market is seeing a shift. Office transactions more than doubled in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the previous quarter, helping lift overall commercial sales volume by five per cent.
“It remains to be seen whether it’s a blip in the data or a new trend emerging,” said Lis in the release. “But office transactions in the first quarter of 2025 have surged to a level not seen in some time.”
There were 341 commercial real estate sales in the Lower Mainland in Q1 2025, down 7.8 per cent from Q1 2024.
The total dollar value of those sales was $2.005 billion, a six per cent decline year-over-year.
Land transactions fell sharply—down 50.5 per cent in volume and 23.4 per cent in value—amid a glut of unsold homes.
Despite the uptick in office and retail activity, overall commercial transaction volumes remain nearly 40 per cent below the 10-year quarterly average.
“Should this spread [between cap rates and bond yields] continue increasing, returns on commercial assets will reach levels high enough to draw more investors off the sidelines,” Lis said in the release. “But whether these investors will show up remains the ultimate question.”
Jordan Copp is Coast Reporter’s civic and Indigenous affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
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