September 2026 Real Estate Update: Vancouver, the North Shore & Squamish

Metro Vancouver Snapshot — August 2026

Greater Vancouver REALTORS® (GVR) reported 1,869 residential sales across the region in August, down 4.6 per cent from August 2025 and 20.7 per cent below the 10-year seasonal average. New listings totalled 4,100, down three per cent year over year, while active listings sat at 15,798 — slightly lower than a year ago but still 26.2 per cent above the 10-year seasonal average for the month.

The composite MLS® Home Price Index benchmark across Metro Vancouver was $1,081,900, down 5.6 per cent year over year and 0.6 per cent from July. The region-wide sales-to-active-listings ratio was 12.3 per cent. Detached homes sat at 9.6 per cent, apartments at 13.7 per cent, and townhomes at 15.1 per cent — the only property type to post a year-over-year sales increase. GVR's own historical analysis treats a sustained ratio below roughly 12 per cent as a signal of downward price pressure, which puts the detached segment in particularly soft territory this month. GVR's chief economist noted that softer inventory paired with slower sales has continued to pull prices down across all segments, even with mortgage rates holding steady, and flagged that the region's forecast for the rest of 2026 has been trimmed accordingly.

Source: Greater Vancouver REALTORS®, August 2026 MLS® Residential Market Report, released September 2, 2026.

Vancouver

Vancouver continues to show the softest pricing in the region, particularly in detached housing. In Vancouver East, the composite benchmark was $1,111,700, down 6.7 per cent year over year, with the detached benchmark at $1,621,400 (down 9.4 per cent) and apartments at $628,600 (down 7.5 per cent). Vancouver West's composite benchmark was $1,222,000, down 4.4 per cent year over year; detached homes there sit at $2,932,700 (down 8.7 per cent) and apartments at $774,900 (down 3.8 per cent).

None of this points to a market collapse. It points to a market where buyers generally have more negotiating room and more selection than they've had in several years — particularly at the higher end of detached housing on both sides of the city.

North Vancouver

North Vancouver has held up somewhat better than several neighbouring markets. The August composite benchmark was $1,305,600, down 2.5 per cent year over year — the smallest decline of any sub-area GVR tracks in the region. Detached homes sit at $2,088,400 (down 3.6 per cent), townhouses at $1,247,400 (down 3.1 per cent), and apartments at $770,300 (down 3.4 per cent).

Harbour Swimming Deck Moving Toward Detailed Design

One of the more interesting additions coming to the North Shore is the City of North Vancouver's planned Harbour Swimming Deck at Waterfront Park, next to The Shipyards. The roughly $21-million project is envisioned as a free, public seawater swimming facility in Burrard Inlet, with 50-metre swim lanes, leisure-swimming areas and improved public waterfront access. The bulk of the funding — $16 million — is coming through the charity Swim Drink Fish with support from the Weston family, with the City contributing the remaining $5 million.

City Council has endorsed moving forward, and staff are now in detailed design through the fall, with construction targeted for 2027, subject to permitting (including Port Authority approval) and community input along the way. It's a solid example of how North Vancouver continues to invest in its waterfront as both a residential and recreational destination, even while resale activity stays measured.

West Vancouver

West Vancouver remains one of the softer higher-end markets in the region. The August composite benchmark was $2,269,000, down 5.8 per cent year over year. Detached homes sit at $2,849,200 (down 7.5 per cent) and apartments at $1,122,600 (down 9.2 per cent).

Dundarave: Pierwell Has a Court-Approved Buyer

The major local development story is Pierwell, the long-stalled site at 2468 Marine Drive in the heart of Dundarave Village. The development entered receivership on March 3, 2026, after construction stalled. On August 25, the BC Supreme Court approved the sale of the property to Basel Capital, a Seattle- and Hong Kong-based development and investment group, with the roughly $37.5-million transaction expected to close in September.

Pierwell had been approved in 2022 as a 36-home mixed-use development with substantial retail and commercial space along Marine Drive. It's worth being precise here: the District of West Vancouver has said it has not yet received information about the new owner's redevelopment plans, so it would be premature to say the original project is definitely proceeding as designed. What's actually confirmed is a court-approved sale — ownership is changing, not necessarily the plan.

This matters locally because the site occupies such a prominent stretch of Dundarave Village, and its storefronts have sat dark for months. After a long stretch of uncertainty, a court-approved transaction at least represents real movement on a site that has had a very visible effect on the neighbourhood. I covered the receivership and what it meant for the community in more depth in Pierwell Has a New Owner — What Could This Mean for Dundarave?, which is worth a read if you want the fuller backstory.

Britannia Beach

Britannia sits between the North Shore and Squamish, and a proposal there could become one of the more unusual recreational projects anywhere along the Sea-to-Sky corridor.

South Britannia Surf Park: Under Review, Not Yet Under Construction

The broader South Britannia master-planned community — a mixed-use neighbourhood anchored by a Wavegarden surf facility designed to produce controlled, surfable waves — received its rezoning and development-agreement approval from the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) Board in May 2025, after a review process that stretched back more than a decade. That rezoning is approved and current.

What's happening now is a separate, more granular step: a development permit application specifically for Phase 1 — the surf park itself and an associated hub building with a surf academy, café, restaurant and retail space — was submitted to the SLRD in late July 2026 and is currently under staff review, with consideration by the SLRD Board anticipated this fall. In other words, the community and the concept are approved; the site-specific permit that governs what actually gets built first is still working its way through the process. It's fair to call this a proposed, development-permit-stage surf park — not something already under construction or guaranteed to open on any particular date.

Squamish

Squamish's overall August composite benchmark was $1,076,500, down 3.3 per cent year over year. Detached homes sit at $1,592,700 (down 6.3 per cent) and apartments at $571,500 (down 7.5 per cent) — but townhouses actually rose 1.8 per cent year over year, to $1,009,100. That makes Squamish an interesting market to watch this fall, because it isn't moving uniformly across housing types the way most of the region is.

Oceanfront Squamish Continues Its Transformation

Squamish's former industrial waterfront continues its slow transformation into a mixed-use community. In July, the District of Squamish considered a development permit for a five-building project at 37495 Innovation Avenue on the Oceanfront lands, combining roughly 249 market rental homes above ground-floor light industrial space, plus a separate childcare facility for 49 children and a small community art space. The proposal followed a zoning bylaw amendment adopted by Council earlier in July that removed an earlier cap on unit count for the site.

This is one of the more meaningful long-term stories in the community, not because of the unit count on its own, but because of what it represents: the ongoing reshaping of the relationship between Downtown Squamish and its waterfront, adding housing, childcare and employment space to a peninsula that was industrial land within living memory.

What Does All of This Mean?

Heading into fall, the theme across these communities is almost contradictory: the resale market remains relatively quiet, while the communities themselves continue to change quickly.

Buyers have more inventory and, in many cases, more negotiating power than they have had in several years. Sellers are competing in a market where pricing and presentation matter more than they did during the stronger market years. At the same time, major housing, waterfront, recreational and mixed-use projects continue to move through planning, approvals and ownership changes across the region. A slower resale market does not necessarily mean a community has stopped growing or evolving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Metro Vancouver currently a buyer's market?

The August data leans that way in most segments. The overall sales-to-active-listings ratio was 12.3 per cent, and detached homes specifically sat at 9.6 per cent — below the roughly 12 per cent threshold GVR associates with downward price pressure. Conditions vary meaningfully by sub-area and property type, so it's worth checking the numbers for your specific neighbourhood before pricing a purchase or a sale.

What actually happened with Pierwell in Dundarave?

The development entered receivership in March 2026 after construction stalled. On August 25, the BC Supreme Court approved the sale of the property to Basel Capital, a Seattle- and Hong Kong-based development firm, with completion expected in September. The District of West Vancouver has not yet received the new owner's redevelopment plans, so what gets built next isn't confirmed.

Is the Britannia Beach surf park actually under construction?

No. The surrounding master-planned community is approved and rezoned, but the site-specific development permit for the surf park itself was only submitted in late July 2026 and is under SLRD staff review, with Board consideration expected this fall. No construction start date has been confirmed.

Will the North Vancouver Harbour Swimming Deck definitely open in 2027?

2027 is the City's current target, but the project is still in detailed design and requires further permitting, including Port Authority approval, before construction begins. It's a realistic target, not a guaranteed date.

Does a slow resale market mean development has stalled too?

Not based on what's happening this month. Resale sales and prices are softer across the board, but municipal and provincial approvals, court proceedings and construction planning for major projects — from waterfront recreation to new housing — are continuing regardless of resale market conditions.