Vancouver Real Estate: 2025 Spotlight on Luxury

Despite a strong start to the year, sales of luxury detached housing in the Greater Vancouver real estate market fell short of year-ago levels in the first two months of 2025, as concerns over trade wars and election jitters rattled the market. Sales of detached properties over the $3-million price point fell by 21.4 per cent to 135 units between January and February 2025, down from 172 units during the same period in 2024. Condominiums, however, bucked the downward trend, with 15 units sold so far this year, compared to zero in the first two months of 2024.

Average price has held relatively steady in light of current downward pressure, with detached housing values rising just over two per cent to $4.2 million, up from $4.1 million one year earlier. Condominium average price hovered at $4.3 million for the 15 properties that changed hands. The most popular areas with today’s luxury buyers include Westside communities such as Shaughnessy, Kerrisdale, and West Point Grey as well as West Vancouver.

While sales at the lower end of luxury have been stimulated by the Bank of Canada cuts to the overnight rate, which served to bring down interest rates on variable-rate mortgages, recent volatility in the stock market has buyers in the uber-luxe segment of the Greater Vancouver real estate market adopting a wait-and-see approach. Vacancy taxes (2.5 per cent applied on the total value of the property annually) on homeowners who are not living in their property six months and a day per year are also impacting sales, with an increasing number of buyers moving to Whistler and other parts of the country where there is no vacancy tax. To illustrate, nine detached sales were reported in Whistler over $3 million in the first two months of the year, compared to eight in 2024. Some luxury buyers are moving farther afield to markets including Burnaby, Maple Ridge and the Fraser Valley’s Langley communities where their dollar stretches further.

Inventory levels are a growing concern, given the influx of newcomers to the Vancouver CMA. Statistics Canada noted that Vancouver added 127,000 people in the one-year period leading up to July 1, 2024, propelling the city’s population to 3.1 million in its population estimates for subprovincial areas, 2024. Since 2021, the population has experienced an increase of 12 per cent.

The Foreign Buyer’s Ban continues to have an impact at the high end of the Greater Vancouver real estate market, with global purchasers including those from the US shut out of the Vancouver market. The elimination of the ban would likely prop up residential activity in the Vancouver Area.

Given the strong start early in the year, home-buying activity at the top end of the market is expected to re-gain momentum once economic and political stability returns to the province. It may take several months before the issues between Canada and the U.S. are ironed out, but the longstanding relationship between the two countries should ensure a peaceful resolution, which should help stabilize stock markets both north and south of the border.

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