A sluggish spring market has extended into the summer, as many potential homebuyers in Greater Vancouver hold out for better deals and lower interest rates, says one expert.
“If they don’t have to move—so say they haven’t sold their home and must buy something—they’re taking the summer off. They are out there enjoying the sunshine,” said Tim Hill of Tim Hill Real Estate Group, Re/Max All Points Realty.
This is despite detached homes becoming more attainable in today’s conditions, he said.
“The gaps are really good if you’re going from, say, a townhome to a detached house right now. If you throw a suite in there to offset your mortgage payments, in some cases you might actually be ahead,” he said.
There were 3,273 detached home sales in Greater Vancouver in the first half of 2025, the lowest level in 10 years and 39 per cent below the 10-year average, according to a Thursday report from Re/Max Canada.
Market share for the detached housing segment has also declined since 2021, falling to its lowest level in the first half of this year at 27.3 per cent. At its highest point in 2016, detached homes represented 40.1 per cent of total residential sales in Greater Vancouver, the Re/Max report said.
Even if the Bank of Canada cuts its key interest rate at its next announcement on July 30, Hill suggested it may not provide much of a boost.
“We’re in a summer lull, so I don’t think if we had a 0.25 drop that it would ignite anything in the month of August anyhow,” he said, adding that luxury homes bought with cash are less sensitive to rates.
The July 24 Re/Max report identified five regional markets where there has been an uptick in detached home sales and median prices: Sunshine Coast, Squamish, Port Moody/Belcarra, Gulf Islands and Bowen Island.
Hill said not to read too much into these outliers, whose performance can be affected in either direction by just a handful of sales in a short period, he said.
Meanwhile, buyers are adapting to the tepid market by increasingly making offers with “subject to sale” clauses, Hill said.
“They happen in between markets, when they are not fully going down and not fully going up … almost like no man’s land” he said.
Subject to sale clauses generally contain a trigger, he said. If the seller receives a second offer, the first buyer must remove their conditions and purchase within 24 to 72 hours, or else walk away so the seller can accept the second offer.
This tool allows buyers who need equity from their existing home to mitigate the risk of being unable to sell it. It also helps sellers with stagnant listings attract more potential purchasers, Hill said.
“When you are in a lower-selling market, that could be your only buyer in three to four months, so it’s really risky to say no to them,” he said, noting that buyers may also be willing to pay a premium for the added certainty.
Hill said he hopes the Greater Vancouver market rebounds after the back-to-school season in September.
“It’s kind of like a train trying to get going, but when it gets going it just sort of seems to keep slowing back down again,” he said.
