The U.S. trade war, stock market volatility and federal election jitters are among the factors affecting the Vancouver region’s luxury home market.
That’s according to a Thursday report from Re/Max Canada, which found sales of luxury homes in Greater Vancouver declined notably for the first two months of 2025 compared with the same period last year.
There were 150 sales of luxury homes in January and February. That’s down 12.8 per cent from the same period last year when there were 172 sales.
Re/Max defines luxury homes as those sold for $3 million and above.
Luxury detached properties were especially affected, with sales down 21.4 per cent from the same period in 2024.
Luxury condos, on the other hand, performed better, with 15 sales in the first two months of 2025. The luxury condominium average price hovered at $4.3 million to start this year after registering no sales, hence no average price, during the same period last year.
Luxury detached housing values rose just over two per cent to $4.2 million, up from $4.1 million one year earlier.
The report cited stock market volatility as a factor in luxury home sales in the Vancouver region.
“While sales at the lower end of luxury have been stimulated by the Bank of Canada cuts to the overnight rate, which have served to bring down interest rates on variable rate mortgage, recent volatility in the stock market has buyers in the uber-luxe segment of the housing market adopting a wait-and-see approach,” said the report.
Other variables noted by Re/Max include vacancy taxes, inventory levels, population growth and the federal ban on foreign buyers.
“Home-buying activity at the top end of the market is expected to regain momentum once economic and political stability returns to the province,” the report said.
“It may take several months before the issues between Canada and the U.S. are ironed out, but the longstanding relationship between the two countries should ensure a peaceful resolution, which should help stabilize stock markets both north and south of the border.”
