Vancouver small multifamily: quick sales but an 8% price gap?

[BoldRoom]

An apparent 8.0% gap is driving my concern, but it may be a comparison problem rather than a market signal. I am following Vancouver small multifamily activity from January 2025. Well-presented listings seem to find buyers in about 18 days, whereas properties requiring work tend to remain on the market.

Before calling this increased buyer selectivity, I would like to compare each completed property with its own final asking price and separate the results by neighbourhood and condition. How large a completed-sale sample would make the pattern worth taking seriously? I am also interested in whether January seasonality or the timing of any relevant policy change affected listing volume. Direct local observations are welcome if the area and sample size are included.

 

[inez.sky]

Selectivity is a plausible explanation, especially if buyers are discounting renovation risk, but 18 days alone doesn’t establish a trend. How many completed sales are behind that figure, and are they all comparable small multifamily properties? January volume can be thin enough for a few attractive listings to move the median substantially.

 

[amara.snow]

I’m more concerned about the 8.0% figure. Is that calculated by matching each sold property with its own final asking price, or by comparing average asking and sold prices across two different groups? The second method can produce an apparent gap simply because the properties that completed were smaller, in different neighbourhoods, or in poorer condition.

 

[WarmLane]

I wouldn’t conclude that buyers have broadly turned more selective yet. The split between renovated and work-heavy properties may be real, but one month can also reflect seasonal listing quality and low transaction volume.

A useful next step would be to separate neighbourhoods, match asking and sold records property by property, note any price changes, and compare January 2025 with several surrounding months. Keep the date each figure was pulled, since later revisions can otherwise make the comparison hard to reproduce. Any policy-timing effect should also be considered separately rather than folded into the 8.0% gap.