Vancouver Home Sales Stabilized in May, notes National Bank of Canada says

03:12 PM EDT, 06/02/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Based on data from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV), National Bank of Canada's preliminary estimate is that seasonally adjusted home sales edged up 0.5% from April to May, the first increase in three months. Despite this stabilization, transactions continued to be very low on a historical basis and stood 32.7% below their historical average, noted National's Daren King. "While the marginal improvement in transactions in May remains good news, activity in Vancouver's real estate market does not appear to be showing any signs of a significant recovery, likely due to ongoing affordability issues, economic uncertainty and, more recently, geopolitical turmoil," King said.

Further, the improvement in the labour market seen over the past year in the region has recently been completely wiped out, with the unemployment rate jumping from 5.8% in February to 7% in April, its highest level since June 2021, King said, adding: "Should trade relations improve and the labour market stabilize, the potential boost in consumer confidence could stimulate activity in the residential market. However, the recent rise in fixed mortgage rates due to rising inflation could limit this recovery."

On the supply side, National Bank estimates new listings dropped by 8.6% from April to May, following a 6.3% jump the previous month. Overall, active listings were down 0.8% during the month, the fourth consecutive monthly decline. Market conditions, defined as the ratio of active listings to sales, tightened slightly during the month but continued to be very loose on a historical basis, King noted.

National Bank also noted: on an annual basis, sales declined by 3.5% compared to the low level of activity registered in May 2025, representing the eighth consecutive month of year-over-year decline and the lowest activity for that period of the year since 2020; transactions were down in the attached home (-1.3%) and condo (-7.2%) segments but were slightly up for the detached home (+0.9%) segment; for the first five months of 2026, cumulative home sales were down 8.3% compared to the same period in 2025 and at their lowest since 2020.

On the supply side, the bank noted, new listings in May dropped by 7.6% year-over-year, while active listings decreased by 1.0%. It said this decline was due to decreases in the detached home (-3.9%) and condo (-3.9%) segments that were not counterbalanced by an increase in the attached home segment (+11.5%). In terms of prices, the MLS Composite HPI dropped by 6.5% compared to the same period last year, a smaller contraction than the -7.3% observed in April, it added.

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