“Prices have eased from recent highs, mortgage rates are among the lowest we’ve seen in years, and there are more active listings on the MLS (multiple listing service) than we’ve seen in almost a decade. Sellers appear ready to engage — but so far, buyers have not shown up in the numbers we typically see at this time of year.”
That’s a quote from the Greater Vancouver Realtor’s (GVR) director of economics and data analytics Andrew Lis. His comments came from a press release that accompanied the March, 2025 activity statistics for real estate transactions for 17 areas in the provinces southwest. Included are Metro Vancouver and its environs and adjacent locations including the Sunshine Coast, Squamish and Whistler.
Listings were reported as plentiful, according to the information released. The total number of properties currently listed for sale on the MLS system in Metro Vancouver is 14,546, a 37.9 per cent increase compared to March 2024. Those numbers were 44.9 per cent above the March average over a 10-year period.
On the Sunshine Coast, last month’s “Listing & Sales Activity Summary” showed detached home listings at 161, up from 146 for that same month in the previous year. In keeping with the GVR’s assessment of more sellers and than buyers being active in the market, sales of those types of properties went down. There were 31 sales in March 2025 compared to 35 during that period of 2024.
Prices down over past three years; up 146 per cent over the past 10
The benchmark price of a single family home in our area for March 2025 was $873,600, which is under half of benchmark pricing for such properties in the Lower Mainland GVR region of $1.81 million. The Coast’s benchmark pricing, averaged for all property types is down by 1.3 per cent since the beginning of 2025, and down by 10.5 per cent over the past three years.
But local properties are gaining ground price-wise faster than those in the Lower Mainland area when the ten year picture is examined. Over that period, the Coast’s detached single family residential listing prices went up by 146 per cent. Those in the Lower Mainland sector increased by 86 per cent.
The press release noted that across detached, attached and apartment property types for all areas reported on, the sales-to-active listings ratio for March 2025 is 14.9 per cent. That ratio was cited at 10.3 per cent for detached homes, 21.5 per cent for attached properties and 16.2 per cent for apartments.
“While market conditions overall remain balanced, it’s worth noting that the attached segment continues teetering on the threshold of a sellers’ market as a result of a chronic under supply, with only about 2,200 active listings available for prospective buyers throughout the entire region,” Lis stated in the release.
