If you've been watching the market and feeling unsure about what to do next, you're not alone. The headlines are mixed, the numbers move every month, and a decision this big deserves clear information. Here's my plain-English read of the September 2026 numbers from Greater Vancouver REALTORS® (GVR), with a closer look at Richmond and Burnaby.

The Big Picture

Metro Vancouver recorded 1,717 sales in September, down 8.4% from the 1,875 sales a year ago and about 25% below the 10-year seasonal average of 2,289. New listings came in at 5,852, down 10.3% from last September. Active listings sit at 16,394: a little lower than a year ago, but still roughly 24% above the 10-year seasonal average.

The composite benchmark price is $1,075,900, down 5.5% from September 2025 and down about half a percent from August.

The number I watch most closely is the sales-to-active listings ratio, which landed at 10.9%. Historically, prices tend to face downward pressure when that ratio stays below 12% for a sustained stretch, and upward pressure when it runs above 20% for several months. We're in the first camp, which fits the gradual price drift we've been seeing all year.

Not Every Segment Is the Same

The 8.4% decline is almost entirely an apartment story. Detached and attached sales actually finished slightly ahead of last September. GVR's chief economist, Andrew Lis, points to end-users (people buying a place to live) driving the market while investor demand waits on better conditions.

Richmond

Richmond had a steadier month than the region as a whole. Sales were up year over year in every category: detached (65 vs. 55), townhouse (48 vs. 43), and apartment (110 vs. 93).

• Townhouses: benchmark of $1,025,000, up 0.3% from August and down 2.3% from a year ago, holding up better than the regional townhouse figure of -4.7%.

• Apartments: benchmark of $635,600, down 9.1% over the year.

• Detached: benchmark of $1,871,100, down 8.5% over the year.

Burnaby

Burnaby's apartment segment is where the softness shows. Apartment sales were 121, compared with 175 a year earlier. Townhouse sales were 36 (vs. 43), and detached sales were essentially flat at 50 (vs. 49).

Townhouse benchmarks held reasonably well: Burnaby East at $857,900 (up 0.6% from August), Burnaby South at $942,100 (up 0.9%), and Burnaby North at $880,400 (down 0.9%). Apartment benchmarks are down between 5.5% and 8.3% over the year depending on the area.

What This Means for Buyers

You have more choice and more room to negotiate than you did a couple of years ago. Inventory is well above average, prices have eased, and for first-time buyers, apartments in particular offer a more accessible entry point than we've seen in a while.

If you're a condo owner thinking about moving up to a townhome, here's something worth knowing. In Richmond, the gap between the apartment benchmark and the townhouse benchmark is about $389,000 today. Townhouse prices have held up better than apartment prices, so that gap has widened a little over the past year. It doesn't mean the move can't work. It means the plan matters: your condo's value, your down payment, and your timing all need to be looked at together. Benchmarks are a guide, not a valuation of your specific home, so let's look at your actual numbers.

What This Means for Sellers

Pricing is everything right now. Buyers are informed, patient, and comparing carefully, so a price based on last year's sales or on the neighbour's asking price can leave a home sitting. Townhomes and detached homes are drawing steady end-user interest, while condo sellers will benefit most from sharp pricing, strong presentation, and realistic expectations. It's a market where good preparation shows.

The Bottom Line

This is a slower, more balanced market, and the story differs depending on property type and neighbourhood. That can feel stressful, but it also means there's real opportunity for buyers who are prepared and sellers who are well advised.

Whether you're buying your first place, thinking about moving from a condo to a townhome, or wondering what your home is worth today, I'm happy to walk through it with you. No pressure, just honest numbers. Reach out at nevillemak.ca.

If you own a condo in Richmond and you are thinking about selling it this fall to move up to a townhome, I want to talk to you about the single most important decision you will make in that entire process. It is not which townhome you buy. It is not the timing of your subjects or the length of your completion date. It is the price you put on your condo when you list it.

Industry data from September 2026 shows that homes priced within one percent of their eventual sale value are selling in an average of 22 days. Homes priced more than five percent above their market value are taking 71 days on average.

Read those two numbers side by side. Twenty-two days versus 71 days. That is not a small difference in outcome. That is the difference between a clean, controlled transaction where you move into your townhome on a timeline you chose and a drawn-out, stressful process where you are chasing the market down, reducing your price multiple times, and trying to write offers on townhomes while your condo is still sitting.

The Richmond condo market right now has 933 active listings with an absorption rate of 5.9 percent. Your buyer has options. They are comparing your unit against multiple other condos in your building, in your neighbourhood, and across the city. They have time to walk away and come back to something else. In that environment, a seller who prices their condo at exactly what the market will bear moves it in 22 days. A seller who prices five percent above that same number sits for 71 days, usually ends up selling for less than they would have at the right price from day one, and often watches the townhome they wanted get sold to someone else while they wait.

I have watched this play out too many times to stay quiet about it.

Here is what pricing correctly in the current Richmond condo market actually requires. You need recent comparable sales in your specific building and within a half kilometre radius, weighted by floor level, exposure, finishing quality, and strata fee structure. You need to understand what your competition looks like right now on MLS, not what it looked like three months ago when you first started thinking about selling. And you need to be honest with yourself about what your unit offers versus what is competing against it.

The average sold price for Richmond condos in the last 30 days is $675,736 with properties selling in 49 days. That 49 day average includes the sellers who priced correctly and sold in 22 days and the sellers who priced too high and are dragging the average up. The sellers in the first group are the ones who have already moved into their townhomes. The sellers in the second group are still on the market.

On the purchase side of the upsizing transaction, the picture is genuinely favourable right now. The composite benchmark price sits near $1.28 million, up modestly year-over-year but still below the 2022 peak. The attached home benchmark across Metro Vancouver is $1,028,800, down 4.4 percent year over year. Five year fixed mortgage rates are currently between 4.1 and 4.4 percent. The townhome you want has corrected from its peak and rates are workable. The only variable you fully control in the upsizing transaction is how you price your condo. Get that right and everything else becomes manageable. Get it wrong and you will spend the next two to three months watching a favourable market become less favourable while you sort it out.

In Richmond, the Hamilton and East Cambie neighbourhoods have already tightened into balanced market conditions with absorption rates of 13.6 and 12.9 percent respectively. The townhome product there is moving. If you are targeting those areas and your condo is priced correctly, you are in a position to be a serious buyer for a motivated townhome seller heading into October. If your condo is priced five percent above market, you are a spectator watching those opportunities close while you wait for an offer that may not come at the price you hoped for.

I price condos for sellers in Richmond and Burnaby every week. I know what the comparables look like, what buyers are actually paying, and what the gap is between aspirational pricing and market pricing in the current environment. If you are thinking about listing your condo this fall, that conversation should happen before you talk to anyone else. Reach out.

Neville Mak, REALTOR® The Real Brokerage 778-688-6667 | nevillemakre@gmail.com | nevillemak.ca Serving Richmond and Burnaby