Sellers ‘aren’t budging’ as inventory builds up in tariff-saddled B.C. real estate market

Ongoing uncertainty in global markets is having a homegrown effect on British Columbia’s real estate market.

Both sales and prices slumped last month, according to data B.C. Real Estate Association — part of a provincewide trend of sluggish sales activity over the last five months, with the priciest markets being hit the hardest.

“We have the highest level of inventory of both newly completed homes and existing homes in about 10 years,” B.C. Real Estate Association Chief Economist Brendon Ogmundson.

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“Sellers just aren’t really budging. If you look at condo prices in Vancouver versus Toronto, they’re down 20 per cent from peak in Toronto, they are down like 5 per cent from peak in Vancouver.”

Data supplied by the group showed sales were down 13.5 per cent over May 2024, while the average price of a home slid by 4.2 per cent to $959,058 from just over $1,001,341.

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Vancouver Realtor Steve Saretsky said the market has become caught in a “sort of feedback loop” because people are holding off on big purchases.

“Everyone is marked with uncertainty, worried with the tariff stuff, worried about the prospects of the labour market, are they going to be able to hold down a job,” he said.

“So what we are seeing is a lot of buyer hesitation, and that is allowing inventory to stack up and as the inventory stacks up, that just puts pressure on prices.”

At the same time, he said some sellers are still holding out for unrealistic prices.

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“Everybody always feels like their house is worth more than it is, and people are always mentally anchored to the last price that sold in the building or the neighbourhood,” he said.

Both Saretsky and Ongmundson said they’ve seen numbers pick up slightly in recent weeks.

Ongmundson said that could be linked to the relative lack of noise on the U.S.-Canada trade front.

“There are some signs that perhaps the worst is behind us,” he suggested. “The quieter it is on the tariff front, the more confidence buyers are going to have.”

Ongmundson added that before U.S. President Donald Trump launched his trade war, the province had been expecting a busy year on the real estate market.

He said if economic fears calm down, some of that pent-up demand could start to make itself felt in the back half of 2025.