September 2026 market note: buyers had the edge in most of the regionSeptember 2026 market note: buyers had the edge in most of the region

In September 2026, buyers had the edge for detached houses in 15 of 21 areas across the Fraser Valley and Metro Vancouver, and for condos and townhomes in 8 of 22. Across the cities I serve, the typical home sold at about 97% of its final asking price after a median 32 days on the market. Only 2 markets favoured sellers: Pitt Meadows (detached houses), Pitt Meadows (condos & townhomes).

How to read the ratio

The sales-to-active-listings ratio is the share of active listings that sold during the month. Under 12% favours buyers, 12 to 20% is balanced, and over 20% favours sellers. One month is a reading, not a trend, which is why I look at it beside days on market and the sale-to-list ratio before I advise anyone to act.

Where it was tightest

• Pitt Meadows (detached houses): 32%, 12 sales from 37 active listings.
• Pitt Meadows (condos & townhomes): 21%, 14 sales from 66 active listings.
• Cloverdale (condos & townhomes): 19%, 37 sales from 194 active listings.

These are the places where a well-prepared, correctly priced home still draws more than one buyer. Pricing just under a search-band boundary matters more here than anywhere else.

Where buyers had the most choice

• New Westminster (detached houses): 5%, 164 active listings and 9 sales.
• Surrey (condos & townhomes): 7%, 1,523 active listings and 114 sales.
• Vancouver West Side (detached houses): 7%, 697 active listings and 48 sales.

With this much inventory, the first fourteen days of a listing decide its outcome. Homes that arrive at the right number with the full presentation get the showings; homes that test the market sit, then chase it down.

If you are selling this fall

• Price from what sold in the last ninety days in your segment, weighted for condition, and from what is competing with you this weekend. The list price positions you against that competition and decides which buyer searches you appear in.
• Do the preparation that changes the photographs and the inspection, and skip the renovation that comparable sales do not reward.
• Agree in advance what happens if showings are steady but offers are not. That conversation is easier before the listing goes live than two weeks into it.

If you are buying

• A real pre-approval with a rate hold is the number that matters. Confirm it before the first viewing.
• In the buyers' markets above you can keep your subjects and still be competitive. Use them: inspection, financing, strata documents read properly.
• In the tight pockets, prepare so you can shorten subjects with information rather than remove them under pressure.

Method and sources

Figures are from the SnapStats® reports I subscribe to, compiled from Fraser Valley Real Estate Board and Greater Vancouver REALTORS® MLS® data captured October 1, 2026, and cover September 2026 against the previous month. Medians are across the areas I serve; each area's own figures are on the Market Knowledge page and on each neighbourhood guide. This is a reading of the month, not a forecast, and not a substitute for a comparable-sales analysis of a specific property.