CONTINUED STABILITY REFLECTS CONFIDENCE IN HOUSING MARKET

The Vancouver Island Real Estate Board (VIREB) recorded 513 unit sales (all property types) in November 2025, down eight percent from one year ago. Year-over-year active listings (all property types) were 3,646, up five percent from the previous year.

In the single-family category (excluding acreage and waterfront), 259 homes sold in November, down one percent from one year ago and 18 percent from October. Sales of condo apartments last month came in at 50, a decrease of 19 percent year over year and a drop of 28 percent from October. In the row/townhouse category, 53 units changed hands in November, down 29 percent from one year ago and 32 percent from October.

Active listings of single-family homes were 1,121 last month compared to 1,105 in November 2024. VIREB’s inventory of condo apartments was 346 in November, down from the 314 listings posted one year ago. There were 310 row/townhouses for sale last month compared to 257 in November 2024. “VIREB’s housing market remains relatively stable, with sales sitting just below the ten-year average
and conditions at the high end of balanced territory,” says VIREB CEO Jason Yochim. “Although sales of single-family homes, condo apartments, and row/townhouses dipped in November, that’s typical for this time of year as buyers and sellers slow down for the holidays.”

Yochim notes that with no Bank of Canada rate cuts expected—and with cuts unlikely unless the economy weakens significantly—VIREB doesn’t foresee any major shifts in local market dynamics.

“While federal measures announced in 2025 aim to boost housing supply, they’re unlikely to influence our local market in 2026. Despite broader uncertainties, VIREB’s market proved more resilient than Vancouver and the Lower Mainland this year, and we expect that stability to continue into 2026,” adds Yochim.

Moving on to prices, the board-wide benchmark price (MLS® Home Price Index) of a single-family home was $779,200 in November 2025, up two percent from one year ago and down one percent from October. In the apartment category, the benchmark price was $421,300 last month, up seven percent year over year and two percent from October. The benchmark price of a townhouse in November was $538,800, down one percent from the prior year and two percent from October.

In Campbell River, the benchmark price of a single-family home was $670,400 last month, down three percent from November 2024. The Comox Valley’s year-over-year benchmark price rose by one per cent to $851,000. In the Cowichan Valley, the benchmark price was $766,800, up two percent from November 2024. Nanaimo’s year-over-year benchmark price dropped slightly to $801,900, while the Parksville-Qualicum area saw its benchmark price increase by five percent to $920,800. The cost of a benchmark single-family home in Port Alberni was $517,600, up four percent from the previous year. For the North Island, the benchmark price of a single-family home increased by three percent to $441,900.

(Article re-posted courtesy of the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board VIREB)