The Three Biggest Opportunities in Early 2026

There is no doubt it is a buyer’s market in Vancouver.
2025 saw the worst market to sell in a long time, 20 year lows in sales and 30 year highs in new listings.
Supply and Demand drive the market and they were skewed heavily towards buyers. You may have heard some call it a ‘balanced market’ but that’s because they don’t want to scare sellers from listing (IMO).

With that in mind, most of the opportunities are for buyers right now! Here are the biggest opportunities in Vancouver right now;

1) First Time Buyers

This is the best market buyers have seen in almost a decade. I’ve already mentioned 2025 but in the first month of 2026 the numbers show the same story; sales were 30% lower than the 10 year average and listings were 19% higher than the 10 year average! Sales were actually lower than last year in January with only 1,107 sales when January 2025 saw 1,552.
First time buyers don’t need to sell to buy and, in most cases, are in no rush to buy. This leaves them in the position to watch the market for a home that checks the boxes and a seller that’s realistic on price (and properly motivated).

2) Upsizing 

Higher priced items take the largest hit in down markets. Benchmark prices have now corrected back to February 2023 so you will need to be realistic on the selling side but the win on the buy side will make up for any potential loss on the sell side. If you are in a townhouse or condo and want to upsize in the next 5 years, it is wise to look into the feasibility in 2026.
^Bonus Opportunity^ if you’re able to hold onto your condo to rent out while you wait for the market to improve to win on both sides of the upsize.

3) DIYers

If, like me, you’ve been following Jenna and Nicky in West Vancouver as they bring a piece of West Coast history back to life. And you dream of your own reno;  as I mentioned above re: higher priced homes, detached homes are sitting on the market longer.
There are currently 54 detached homes in Vancouver for under 1.5 million and 32 of those have some sort of suite.
I am not advocating for a flip here but if you’ve got the skills to add sweat equity, many detached sellers are showing motivation with large price drops.

It is not the right time for everyone but if buying your first home, upsizing or making the big swing for a detached that needs work is in your 5 year plans; you’d be remiss not to be pre-approved, engaged with a Realtor and actively watching the market!

Step 1; let’s connect!

Kade Lacasse
604-401-9199
kadelacasse@gmail.com

Click this link to book a 15 minute call