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State of BC Real Estate · 2026 August

State of BC Real Estate — August 2026

Published 2026-09-02 · By Bronson Job PREC, REALTOR® · Momentum Realty Inc.

The two boards moved in different directions in August, for the first time in more than a year. The Fraser Valley recorded 941 sales, up 1.1% from August 2025, only its second year-over-year gain since the start of 2025, while its active inventory fell 6.3% to 9,787. Greater Vancouver went the other way, with 1,869 sales, down 4.6% year-over-year and 20.7% below the 10-year seasonal average, against inventory of 15,798, down 2.7%. Prices eased on both sides of the river: the Greater Vancouver composite benchmark settled at $1,081,900 (down 5.6% year-over-year, 0.6% on the month) and the Fraser Valley at $869,900 (down 7% year-over-year, 0.9% on the month). Sellers kept stepping back in the Fraser Valley, where new listings fell 15% from last August to 2,373; Greater Vancouver's slipped 3% to 4,100. Greater Vancouver's chief economist attributed the price drift to weak sales meeting inventory that has come off its 2025 highs. Both boards remain buyer's markets by their own definitions, at sales-to-active ratios of roughly 12% and 10%.

Market notes

  • The Fraser Valley did something it has not done in a year

    Sales rose. 941 homes changed hands in August, 1.1% more than in August 2025, and the board notes it is only the second year-over-year gain since the beginning of 2025. At the same time active inventory fell 6.3% to 9,787. Rising sales alongside falling inventory is the combination that usually precedes a firmer market, and it is the second time both have been true this year: April recorded a 7.2% sales gain against a 2.3% inventory decline, and it did not hold. It is also a 1.1% gain against a weak base, in a month when sales fell 13.6% from July, and it is a figure for all property types. Inside the three main ones the board reports separately, sales did not rise: detached was exactly flat at 332, townhouses fell 2.0% to 244, and apartments fell 7.5% to 234. The annual gain came from everything else the board counts, which is duplexes, manufactured homes, acreage and land. Inventory, by contrast, fell harder in those three types than in the total: detached down 12.9%, townhouses 11.3%, apartments 15.4%. Board chair Ishaq Ismail described the standoff behind it: "Some buyers are seeing an opportunity to negotiate below asking price, while sellers who need to sell are more likely to accept lower offers."

  • Greater Vancouver did not

    Sales of 1,869 were down 4.6% from August 2025 and 20.7% below the 10-year seasonal average. Inventory of 15,798 fell 2.7% year-over-year but remains 26.2% above the long-term norm, and new listings of 4,100 came in 3% below last August. Chief economist Andrew Lis connected the two sides: "Inventory levels have receded from their 2025 heights, and paired with slower-than-usual sales, this has caused prices to drift downwards across all market segments." Sales against active listings works out near 12%, which is the level the board itself treats as the boundary of a buyer's market.

  • Prices by home type, Fraser Valley

    All three eased again, and apartments continued to fall fastest year-over-year. Detached homes ended August at a benchmark of $1,319,600, down 1.2% on the month and 8.4% on the year. Townhomes were $750,600, down 0.9% and 7.1%. Apartments were $466,100, down 0.7% and 8.9%. Detached and condo listings took an average of 45 days to sell; townhomes took 37. Greater Vancouver's figures by home type are not in this report. I could not read the board's own release this month, and I would rather leave them out than quote them second-hand.

  • Sellers are still the ones leaving

    New listings in the Fraser Valley fell 15% from last August to 2,373, and 16.3% from July. Year to date the board has taken 24,579 new listings against 27,990 over the same stretch of 2025, a 12.2% decline. Greater Vancouver's new listings fell 3% to 4,100. Falling inventory driven by fewer sellers is a different thing from falling inventory driven by more buyers, and for most of this year it has been the first. August is the second month this year where the Fraser Valley showed both at once; April was the first, and it did not hold.

  • What is still true

    Fraser Valley inventory remains 33% above its 10-year seasonal average and Greater Vancouver's 26.2% above the long-term norm. Both sales-to-active ratios sit at or below the boundary their own boards use to define a buyer's market. Prices fell again on both boards. One month of rising sales in one of the two boards is a data point, not a trend, and the honest reading is that the ingredients for a turn appeared on one side of the river and not the other. Volume counts are quoted as the boards report them; each groups property types slightly differently, so counts drawn from other sources will not always align exactly with these.

Implications by audience

  • For buyers

    The choice available has narrowed slightly and the prices have not. Fraser Valley inventory is down 6.3% year-over-year while its benchmark is down 7%, so the trade for waiting has shifted a little. Greater Vancouver has not moved the same way: sales there are still falling faster than inventory. The financing constraint is unchanged. The mortgage stress test still qualifies you at your contract rate plus two percentage points, or 5.25%, whichever is higher, and that qualifying rate does not fall because benchmarks have. Inventory is still well above its seasonal norm on both boards, so this is not urgency; it is a month where the direction of travel is worth watching rather than simply noting.

  • For sellers

    Fewer sellers are competing with you than at any point this year. Fraser Valley new listings are down 15% year-over-year and 12.2% year to date, and inventory has now fallen for two months running. Against that, prices fell again in every segment, and a correctly priced Fraser Valley home took about 45 days to sell, 37 for a townhome. Pricing to the current benchmark rather than last year's remains the decision that determines the outcome, and apartment owners should plan for the same 45-day timeline as detached sellers plus the steepest annual decline of the three, with that benchmark down 8.9%.

Related

Sources: BC Government
Verified sources (2)· re-verified 2026-05-19Click to expand

Every claim on this page is sourced to a primary government, regulator, or industry-association URL. We re-verify quarterly; the verification dates below show when each source was last confirmed against the live government page.

Fact ID: bc.ptt.brackets · v1View in Codex →
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Sources: OSFI · Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions
Verified sources (2)· re-verified 2026-09-05Click to expand

Every claim on this page is sourced to a primary government, regulator, or industry-association URL. We re-verify quarterly; the verification dates below show when each source was last confirmed against the live government page.

Fact ID: osfi.b20.stress_test · v2View in Codex →
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Cite this report: Bronson Job (2026). State of BC Real Estate — 2026 August. https://www.bronsonjob.com/reports/state-of-bc-real-estate-august-2026.

Bronson Job PREC, REALTOR® at Momentum Realty Inc. — Langley + Fraser Valley + Greater Vancouver
Bronson Job PRECREALTOR® · Momentum Realty Inc.GVR Member #6015742 · FVREB Member #FJOBBR