An $8.3-million home in West Vancouver at 6154 Gleneagles Drive, currently listed by Sotheby’s International Realty’s Eric Latta. Photo: sothebysrealty.com

 

West Vancouver home prices have nearly doubled over the past two decades, but the city’s luxury market has entered this fall with significantly more properties for sale than buyers, according to new data compiled by Sotheby’s International Realty Canada.

The brokerage released the 20-year analysis as it marks two decades in West Vancouver, tracing how the market has changed since it established a presence there in 2006.

The brokerage says its presence in the community has spanned substantial changes in both prices and market conditions, from the run-up in values of the mid-2010s and the introduction of B.C.’s foreign buyer tax to the pandemic-era market and today’s slower sales environment.

Today’s buyers are predominantly Metro Vancouver families looking for more space, other schooling options, nature and lifestyle, along with buyers relocating from elsewhere in Canada.

“It’s a younger buyer pool than we’ve traditionally seen in West Vancouver, with younger families looking to this area as a potential long-term home,” said Kevin O’Toole, managing broker with Sotheby’s for Greater Vancouver.

“Buyers are also more informed and more deliberate than they used to be. They do extensive research before they ever book a showing, and in a market with this much choice, they’re taking their time to find the right home at the right price, and in a location that truly caters to their personal lifestyle.”

The median residential sale price in West Vancouver has almost doubled since September 2006 to $2.375 million in August 2026, the brokerage said. 

But the climb has been far from steady. Sotheby’s analysis of MLS data shows the median sale price has reached or exceeded $3.1 million only a handful of times over that period.

 

A 20-year climb in prices

 

West Vancouver’s median sale price reached $3.10 million in February 2016 and $3.14 million the following month.

That was shortly before the B.C. government introduced a 15 per cent additional property transfer tax on residential purchases by foreign nationals and foreign-controlled corporations in Metro Vancouver in August 2016.

The median did not reach $3.1 million again until April 2017.

Prices approached that threshold again during the pandemic-era housing boom, reaching a median of $3.085 million in May 2022.

 

Market reaches a new peak in 2025

 

The highest monthly median recorded in Sotheby’s 20-year analysis came considerably later.

In March 2025, the median sale price reached $3.382 million, the highest level recorded over the two decades covered by the analysis, despite a broader slowdown in regional sales activity.

Sotheby’s attributes that result in part to sellers’ resistance to lowering prices in a slower market.

 

$4-million-plus sales fall 25 per cent

 

Current conditions tell a different story about the balance between buyers and sellers at the top end of the market.

Between Jan. 1 and Aug. 30, 2026, 57 West Vancouver properties priced at $4 million or more sold through MLS, according to Sotheby’s. That was down 25 per cent from 76 during the same period in 2025.

At the same time, 195 residential properties priced above $4 million were listed on MLS as of Sept. 1.

Based on this year’s pace of sales, Sotheby’s calculates that inventory represents approximately 2.3 years of supply, giving buyers considerably more choice in the upper end of the market.

“At the luxury segment of the market, sellers are rarely under pressure to sell. Many have the flexibility to wait, so when conditions soften, they tend to hold rather than make a quick decision to sell at a discount. In March 2025, West Vancouver’s median residential sale price reached $3.3 million, the highest in two decades, even as regional sales activity slowed,” said O’Toole.

“West Vancouver is also unique relative to other markets in the Metro Vancouver region and North Shore, thanks to its lasting appeal and long-term value. There’s only so much land to buy in West Vancouver, allowing for prices to reflect the unique value that these properties offer.”

 

One in seven luxury sales happen off MLS

 

The brokerage’s analysis of land title and MLS records also found some luxury transactions are taking place away from the public listing system.

From January 2024 through August 2026, approximately one in seven West Vancouver properties selling for more than $4 million changed hands without appearing on MLS, according to Sotheby’s.

Despite that share of off-market transactions, the brokerage says current conditions favour wider exposure for luxury listings, combining public marketing through MLS with private networks and other channels.

“Off-market transactions can appeal to sellers who value privacy and security, those who wish to quietly test interest before proceeding to a public listing, or when there’s an obvious buyer already within a trusted network. However, in today’s market, where supply exceeds demand, limiting exposure can limit the pool of qualified buyers,” said O’Toole.

“That’s why we encourage most sellers to use MLS exposure with measures to offer discretion, complemented by targeted outreach through Sotheby’s International Realty’s national and global network. It gives clients discretion where it matters and reach where it counts.”