BC Check-Up 2026 Reports

BC’s housing market makes a sluggish start to 2026

Provincial Summary

Following three years of rapid expansion, British Columbia has entered a period of population decline, a phenomenon that is nearly unprecedented in the province’s history. After reaching a peak of 5.70 million residents on January 1, 2025, the province lost over 41,000 residents (net) over the next four quarters. As of January 1, 2026, BC’s population was nearly 5.66 million people.

As has been the case since 2022, changes in international migration were and will continue to be the driving force behind BC’s demographic shifts. The latest estimates show that BC gained 28,345 new residents through international migration between July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025. This represented a sharp decline compared to the year prior, when 161,714 people (net) moved to BC from other countries. 

Other sources of population change were relatively stable year-over-year. BC lost 2,392 residents to other provinces, the second such net-outflow in as many years. Natural growth – births minus deaths – turned slightly positive for the first time in four years and added 469 more residents to BC’s population.

Looking ahead, BC Stats expects that the province’s population will continue to decline through July 1, 2026, and then rebound slightly over the following 12 months.¹ 

Meanwhile, housing construction in BC’s largest cities continued at a torrid pace in 2025, a strong year for housing completions. Nearly 41,500 housing units were completed in BC’s seven Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs), marking a new record high. The vast majority, 33,893 (81.7%) were multi-family units such as apartments and condos.

A myriad of factors, including slowing (and now negative) population growth and record housing completions, as well as a slumping labour market, and global economic uncertainty have contributed to easing price pressures in the housing market. The benchmark price of a BC home in April 2026 was $880,300, down 5.5% from one year earlier, and now at its lowest point since the March 2022 peak. Through the first four months of 2026, there were 20,059 home sales in BC, down 7.6% compared to the same period in 2025; the average sale price was also 2.0% lower.

Coupled with effectively flat mortgage rates since last year, affordability has improved slightly. The mortgage payment for a representative BC home in April 2026 was nearly $230 less than it was in April 2025. Still, higher interest rates overall have caused average monthly payments to fall by less than $100 since March 2022, despite benchmark prices falling by 14.3% since the peak.² In a recent statistical release, the BC Real Estate Association noted that the ongoing oil supply shock, sparked by the conflict in the middle east, has put upward pressure on mortgage interest rates.³

Despite further improvement in the vacancy rate, rental costs still increased faster than headline inflation over the past year. As of October 2025, the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in BC was $2,065, up 4.0% year-over-year. Notably, average rents (for all apartment types) increased by 2.0% in Greater Vancouver, and 3.3% in Abbotsford-Mission, while BC’s other large population centres experienced average rent increases of 7.0% or more.

Overall, housing price pressures, especially in the Lower Mainland, have eased. However, challenges remain for BC to become a more affordable place to live. To add perspective to the headline indicators, CPABC surveyed⁴ members to get their views on the cost of living in BC. More than a quarter (26%) of respondents indicated that they were seriously considering leaving British Columbia due to the cost of living, a slightly lower proportion compared with last year. Respondents also indicated that all levels of government could do a better at addressing affordability challenges in the province. 

Regional summary

Between July 1, 2024 and July 1, 2025, population growth was relatively comparable across BC’s economic regions, with increases ranging from 0.3% in the Lower Mainland-Southwest, to 1.0% in Northwest BC.⁵ As the effects of lower federal immigration targets take hold, it is expected that regions where the population grew fastest over the last 5 years, will experience the largest drawdowns. Since July 1, 2020, the Lower Mainland-Southwest has been the fastest growing region, adding 377,536 people (+11.9%), followed by the Thompson-Okanagan (+8.4%) and Vancouver Island and Coast (7.5%). 

Further, population growth over the last five years has been concentrated in the province’s largest urban centres. The number of residents living on one of BC’s seven CMAs increased by 455,371 people since July 1, 2020, accounting for 87.3% of gains across the province over that time.

Taking a look at regional housing markets, 10 of BC’s 11 real estate boards have experienced fewer home sales between January and April 2026, compared with the first four months of 2025. The largest declines were in Chilliwack (-25.9%) and Powell River (-25.7%), while the South Peace (-18.5%) and Kootenay (-11.9%) real estate boards also experienced double digit declines. Vancouver Island (+0.0%) was the lone market where year-to-date sales in 2026 matched the figure from 2025.

Similarly, average sale prices have so far fallen or been flat in most markets relative to last year, with BC Northern (+5.2%) and Victoria (+2.6%) serving as the exceptions. 

To put the recent housing market shifts into perspective, 2025 was characterised by diverging trends across the province, where home sales and prices fell across the Lower Mainland, but increased in most other markets. Most markets are now moving in the same direction.

For more information, visit our BC Check-Up regional pages for the latest economic stats from across the province.

Footnotes

1. BC Stats, “Population Estimates & Projections for British Columbia (Population App),” https://bcstats.shinyapps.io/popApp/.

2.  Assumes a 20% downpayment on a representative home in BC, amortized over a 25-year term.

3.  British Columbia Real Estate Association, “Market Activity Endures Through Foreign and Domestic Headwinds,” May 11, 2026, https://www.bcrea.bc.ca.

4.  Survey was conducted between May 6, 2026, and May 20, 2026. 575 members completed the survey, with a response rate of 8%. All “don’t know,” “no opinion,” and “prefer not to answer” responses have been excluded from the results.

5.  Includes North Coast and Nechako.