In Metro Vancouver real estate, April 2026 looked routine on the surface, at least according to the new normal. HouseSigma’s latest MarketWatch infographic (see below) shows there were 2,747 home sales across Metro Vancouver, almost identical to the 2,756 sales of April 2025. The all-home-types median sale price came in at $929,900, up 3.4% from a year ago. Both numbers suggest steady ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The segment-level numbers tell a different story. Sales, prices, and supply are moving in noticeably different directions for detached homes, attached homes, and condo apartments. Treating Metro Vancouver as one real estate market in April 2026 means missing what’s actually happening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sales: detached up sharply, condos down<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Detached sales reached 891 across Metro Vancouver in April, an 18% increase from 756 a year ago and the strongest detached sales month since October 2025. But condo apartment sales went the other way, falling 12% to 1,194 from 1,360, a drop of 166 transactions. Attached homes posted a small gain of 4%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shift is large enough to move the headline price statistic. Detached homes made up 32% of all April sales, up from 27% a year ago. That five-percentage-point swing toward higher-priced inventory is the entire reason the all-types median price rose year-over-year. Strip out the mix change and the picture would look softer, not stronger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Median prices: every home type fell, but not equally<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Every individual property type sold for less than it did a year ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Detached prices took the biggest hit, and that could explain the sales volume rebound. Buyers who were sitting on the sidelines a year ago are finding detached homes at meaningfully lower prices, and they seem to be acting. The condo story works in the opposite direction. Prices fell, but transactions fell faster \u2014 meaning lower prices alone weren’t enough to pull condo buyers back into the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Supply: most home types steady, attached homes rising<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Active listings at month-end show the third divergence. Detached active inventory was essentially flat year-over-year (7,794 vs 7,750). Condo apartment inventory was also flat (8,257 vs 8,385). The attached segment was different: active inventory rose 16%, from 3,534 to 4,098.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The increase is concentrated in one subtype: half-duplex and semi-detached active listings rose 41%, from 593 to 835, and new listings for that subtype rose by an almost identical 41% over the same window. Owners of half-duplexes are listing in larger numbers than they did a year ago, and the matching buyer demand has not yet shown up. May will be a useful test of whether spring activity catches up to the supply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One factor every segment shares<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Property days on market gives a full picture of how long homes are taking to sell by counting any prior days from when a home was previously listed, delisted, and quickly relisted. By this measure, listing times have lengthened across every segment compared with April 2026, even if they have been lessening month over month. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Active detached listings averaged 77 days of cumulative listing time in April, up from 62 a year ago. Active townhouses averaged 63 days, up from 49. Active condo apartments averaged 72 days, up from 57. This means that listings of every kind have been on the market longer than last spring (which in itself was considered slow), including the detached segment that has otherwise reactivated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The “detached homes coming back” story doesn’t mean the detached market is hot. It means detached sales are more active than they was a year ago, against a build-up of slow-moving inventory, within an overall market that remains even slower than April 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What this means for buyers and sellers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The clearest read from April is that “Metro Vancouver real estate” is no longer a useful single unit of analysis when the segments are pulling apart this much. A buyer shopping for a detached home and a buyer shopping for a condo are not in the same market, and using the all-types median price or the all-types sales count to read either one will mislead more than it informs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For detached buyers, the $137,500 year-over-year drop in the median is real money, amplified by lower mortgage rates than a year ago. The opening may not last if enough buyers reach the same conclusion. Detached sellers are pricing into a market where buyers expect to negotiate, which puts more weight on pricing tightly to current comparables from the start. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “The data makes this one simple: buyers have time and selection on their side, while sellers need to show up polished or get comfortable watching their listing clock tick. However, the market vibe is still plenty confusing, and that’s why having an agent who can actually read the data makes all the difference.”<\/p>Jeremy Bator, leading HouseSigma agent in the Lower Mainland<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n The next two months will settle some open questions. Whether detached momentum sustains once the most attractive discounts are absorbed will tell us if the segment has found its price floor or if April was a single-month bump. Whether condo buyers re-engage through the spring, or stay cautious into the summer, will be the real test of where the entry-level market sits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Check out the full April 2026 MarketWatch infographic for Metro Vancouver below, including more breakdowns by property type and area. Hover or click on the data points to see the full detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n