Multi-family brokers see signs of increasing activity following a lacklustre first half, with sales down markedly versus a year ago.<\/p>\n
Metro Vancouver sales declined by more than 40% in the first six months of 2025 versus a year earlier, according to data from Goodman Commercial Inc.<\/p>\n
Transactions were down 46% to 32 deals, while total value fell 40% to $537.3 million.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest storyline is the massive drop off in the suburbs which saw the lowest number of transactions in over 20 years; even during the height of the COVID pandemic and 2008 global financial crisis there were more than twice as many sales in the suburbs,\u201d said Ian Brackett of Goodman Commercial.<\/p>\n
Suburban sales in the period numbered just six, down 81% from a year ago, with an aggregate value of $128.4 million, down 72% from a year ago.<\/p>\n
By contrast, Vancouver saw 26 transactions (down two from a year ago) worth a total of $408.9 million, down just 5% from a year ago.<\/p>\n
The divergence is partly explained by the virtual absence from the market of non-profits, which drove much of the activity last year thanks to funding from the province\u2019s $500 million Rental Protection Fund, launched in 2023.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe market has come back to reality a bit,\u201d Brackett said. \u201cNon-profit and government buyers did 14 deals in the first half of 2024, which dropped off to only four deals in the second half of last year and three transactions in the first six months of 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moreover, 64% of the total dollar volume was made up of just eight transactions involving newly built buildings. These included a portfolio of three East Vancouver assets valued at $192.3 million, and 3123-3137 West Broadway, a 44-unit building that sold for $1,026,136 per unit.<\/p>\n
But per-unit pricing at that level is tough to achieve on older assets, many of which have been coming to a market that\u2019s more cautious than it was.<\/p>\n
Current listings are typically going through one or two price reductions prior to securing a deal, partly because owners retain expectations of high prices and partly because the market itself is in a period of adjustment.<\/p>\n
\u201cPricing is more important than ever before,\u201d said Mark Goodman, principal of Goodman Commercial.<\/p>\n
He points to the recent sale of The Inverness, a 97-year-old property at 1325 Pendrell St., Vancouver, which sold Aug. 7 for $4.9 million. The sale price represented a significant discount to the $5.5 million list price, and averaged $245,000 per unit \u2013 well below the average of $466,153 seen for West End properties in the first half of the year.<\/p>\n
In Marpole, recent transactions have been in the $260,000-a-door range, continuing a steady decline from an area average of $352,266 a door in 2023.<\/p>\n
And yet older assets with opportunities to add value are what\u2019s in vogue, according to brokers.<\/p>\n
\u201cValue-add apartments are becoming more of a compelling investment strategy, because your rents are below market,\u201d said Sim Waraich, transaction manager with CBRE Ltd.\u2019s National Apartment Group in BC. \u201cYou have that embedded mark-to-market in rents and rental growth, versus some of these newer buildings [where] your rents are at market and, with rental concessions and rental incentives, there\u2019s limited growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
The dynamic is a harbinger of leaner times ahead for certain segments of the market, Waraich believes.<\/p>\n
\u201cRental growth is challenged for the foreseeable future,\u201d Waraich said. \u201cIs my rental revenue going to be flat? Is it going to grow at 2%? Those are considerations investors are focusing on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rentals.ca reported rents in BC were down an average of 4.5% versus a year ago in August. With the province capping rent increases at 2.3% for 2026, down from 3% this year, rental growth even within tenancies will be limited.<\/p>\n
This is making secondary markets like Nanaimo appealing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAcross Vancouver Island, in particular the Victoria area, we\u2019re seeing a huge amount of inventory, both value-add and newer product on the market,\u201d said Carey Buntain, a principal in the capital markets group of Avison Young (Canada) Inc. \u201cMid-Island has not seen that same influx of new inventory. There are new projects, but it\u2019s not over-supplied.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nanaimo reflects that, with good uptake of relatively affordable units that appeal to a broad segment of tenants, keeping rents steady.<\/p>\n
\u201cRents have been flat, and in today\u2019s market that\u2019s a good story,\u201d Buntain said.<\/p>\n
Buntain, together with Kevin Murray, recently advised on the purchase of Rutherford House, a newly built 152-unit development in Nanaimo listed with Peter Gibson of Cushman & Wakefield Ltd.<\/p>\n
The buyer was a private investor new to the market. While the purchase price was not disclosed, the sale announcement described it as \u201cone of the largest multi-family deals of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n
The largest deal in Nanaimo was Trilogy, a 213-unit, three-building complex developed by WestUrban Property Group and acquired by a private investor in May for $70.4 million, an average of $330,000 per unit.<\/p>\n
CBRE\u2019s mid-year market review reports a total of eight transactions in Nanaimo and Victoria worth a total of $61 million in the first half of 2025, down from 14 transactions worth $92 million a year ago. (Trilogy’s sale is not reflected in the numbers.)<\/p>\n
Despite the declines, Waraich said all signs point to greater velocity in the second half of the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re seeing a number of our listings being taken off the market because they\u2019re no longer available, either because they\u2019re under contract or firm,\u201d he said. \u201cWe do expect Q3 and Q4 to present stronger numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Goodman Commercial expressed similar sentiments.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a new round of Rental Protection Fund dollars being spent now so [the] numbers will likely pick up in the second half,\u201d Brackett said. \u201cWe are anticipating much bigger numbers in the second half of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n