October 2026 Real Estate Market Insights
Hosts Brittany Reimer, Alan He, and Ashley Judd return for the October episode of The Pulse, filmed from Belgard Kitchen in Vancouver’s Railtown neighbourhood. As the market settles into its fall rhythm, September remained subdued across both presale and resale, with buyers continuing to take their time despite greater choice and lower prices. Meanwhile, more than 1,000 new purpose-built rental homes completed during the month, adding significant new supply across the region.
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Macroeconomic Conditions
Housing policy is back in focus this October, with B.C.’s general local elections on October 17 followed by the provincial election on October 24. The episode explores how proposed changes to housing taxation and development policy could affect buyers, developers, investors, and future housing supply. At the same time, borrowing costs remain part of the affordability picture, with rising bond yields putting renewed pressure on fixed mortgage rates. Together, policy uncertainty and financing conditions continue to weigh on confidence as buyers and developers consider their next moves.
Presale Market Overview
September remained exceptionally quiet for new presale supply, with just two projects releasing a combined 32 homes across the Fraser Valley and Tri-Cities. Neither project reported a sale during the month, compared with a five-year September average of approximately seven launches, 870 homes and more than 35% same-month absorption. Rather than a lack of approved sites, the slowdown continues to reflect limited buyer urgency, with developers responding through smaller releases and more measured launch strategies. October is forecast to bring two additional launches representing 172 homes, still a fraction of the nearly 1,800 homes typically released during the month.
Resale Market Overview
September brought little sign of a traditional fall rebound in resale activity. Greater Vancouver recorded 1,717 sales, down approximately 8% from both August and last September, while the Fraser Valley recorded 922 sales, down 2% month over month and approximately 4% year over year. Inventory remains elevated in both regions, sitting roughly 25% above the ten-year seasonal average in Greater Vancouver and 31% above the norm in the Fraser Valley. With buyers continuing to have significant choice, benchmark prices continued their gradual decline, sitting approximately 5.5% below last year in Greater Vancouver and 7% lower in the Fraser Valley.
Rental Market Overview
September delivered one of the largest waves of new purpose-built rental supply of the year, with six projects completing just over 1,000 homes across Vancouver, Surrey, Langley, and Abbotsford. The group reported a blended lease rate of 15%, although limited reporting and shorter pre-leasing periods contributed to the lower figure. October is expected to bring another 780 rental homes across two projects. At the same time, average rents across MLA-tracked markets eased to approximately $2,670, while average rent per square foot increased to $4.07. With rents remaining relatively flat overall, demand is increasingly favouring larger, more liveable homes, particularly two-bedroom rentals, while studio inventory is taking longer to absorb in several Vancouver submarkets.
Projects mentioned in this episode:
• Solomon – Whitetail Homes
Links mentioned in this episode:
•The Pulse Report - September 2026
• MLA Advisory Services and Sample Reports
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