Townhome Sales Just Jumped 11 Percent in Metro Vancouver. Here Is What That Means If You Are Thinking About Upsizing

The GVR June 2026 data landed on July 3rd and the number that jumped out at me most for upsizers was not the headline sales figure. It was the attached home segment specifically.

Townhome sales across Metro Vancouver came in at 527 units in June 2026, up 11.4 percent from the same month last year. That is the strongest year-over-year gain of any housing type in the region. It happened in the same month that the overall market finally posted broad gains across every segment for the first time in recent years. And it happened while the townhome benchmark price stayed essentially flat month over month, sitting at $1,046,200 for June 2026, down five percent from a year ago but barely moving from May.

What that combination tells me is that buyers who want ground-oriented living, real square footage, a garage, and outdoor space have started coming back to this segment in a meaningful way. They are buying at prices that are still well below last year. But they are buying. The attached segment also has the highest sales-to-active listings ratio of any housing type in the region right now, at 17.8 percent, compared to 15.5 percent for apartments and 12 percent for detached. That means the townhome segment is actually the tightest part of this market right now. Not tight enough to create bidding wars, but tight enough that the window of having maximum selection and a relaxed negotiating environment is worth taking seriously rather than assuming it is permanent.

For anyone sitting in a Richmond or Burnaby condo right now and thinking about making the move up, this data deserves your attention.

Let me address the thing that I know holds a lot of upsizers back, which is the feeling that your condo has lost value and you are somehow selling at a loss. I understand that feeling. But here is what the numbers actually say. The apartment benchmark is $695,200, down 7.1 percent year over year. The townhome benchmark is $1,046,200, down 5 percent year over year. The spread between what you are selling and what you are buying into has both come down. You are not selling a corrected asset and buying something at full price. You are operating in a market where the correction has touched both sides of your transaction, and in many cases the gap between your condo value and your townhome entry point is more manageable than it would have been at the peak.

The days on market for townhomes across Metro Vancouver was 35 days in June based on the GVR data. In the Fraser Valley, it was 33 days. Homes are moving. Not frantically, but steadily. That tells you there is genuine end-user demand in this segment, families who need the space, people who have been patient and are now acting.

In Richmond, the townhome inventory I would have you focused on right now is concentrated in Hamilton, West Cambie, and the newer builds coming out of the East Richmond area. These are ground-oriented homes with private garages, proper outdoor space, and floor plans that are genuinely designed for how families live today. If you have been living in a one or two bedroom condo and you are starting to feel the squeeze, the difference in daily quality of life when you move into a three bedroom townhome with a garage and a patio is something that is hard to overstate.

In Burnaby, the Edmonds and Metrotown corridors continue to offer compelling value in this segment. There are newer townhome builds there with EV charging infrastructure, well-run stratas, and SkyTrain access that is comparable to or better than much of Richmond. If your life or your commute takes you east, Burnaby may actually deliver more home for your money right now.

Here is the honest read of where this market is heading. Andrew Lis at GVR specifically noted that new listings are coming to market at a slower pace than last year, which means the standing inventory is no longer climbing and may be showing early signs of reversing. Prices have not moved much yet because the inventory has been big enough to absorb the demand. But when that inventory starts shrinking and demand continues to come back, prices follow. That sequence has happened in this market before.

You do not need to panic. But if you have been waiting for a clear signal that the townhome market is finding its floor, June 2026 is giving you one.

If you want to understand what your equity looks like right now and what you can realistically step into in Richmond or Burnaby this summer, let's have that conversation.

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