Happy Halloween! Here is the September Squamish real estate market update for your reading pleasure:
- New listings / Sales
- Detached: 38 new / 19 sold → balanced
- Townhomes: 41 new / 12 sold → balanced but leaning to buyer.
- Apartments: 28 new / 13 sold → balanced but leaning to buyer.
- All types: 107 new / 44 sold → overall balanced/buyer edge.
- Benchmark prices (HPI)
- All types: $1,112,800 (-1.2% m/m, +2.0% y/y).
- Detached: $1,661,600 (-1.7% m/m, +9.0% y/y).
- Townhome: $1,032,900 (+2.1% m/m; y/y slightly lower).
- Apartment: $581,800 (+0.8% m/m; y/y slightly lower).
What changed vs. August
- Sales momentum: Detached sales jumped from 11 → 19 (+72.7% m/m). Townhome sales eased (17 → 12), apartments eased (19 → 13).
- Prices: Regionally, GVR’s HPI dipped 0.7% m/m with the sales-to-active ratio at 11.3% (buyer-leaning across the region). Squamish mirrored the gentle month-over-month softening in detached, while townhomes and condos ticked up slightly in inventory.
Context from the wider region (GVR & BC)
- Supply backdrop: 6,527 new listings hit GVR in Sept (+6.2% y/y), with total inventory 17,079 (+14.4% y/y), keeping conditions generally buyer-tilted.
- Provincial pulse: BCREA reports 5,782 MLS® sales in BC (+4.4% y/y) with the average price roughly flat y/y ($948,296). Rate cuts and improved affordability are supporting fall activity.
Boots on the ground: I’m noticing a growing wave of higher-end investment across Squamish. There’s clear appetite in our community for premium product types, likely driven by the relative affordability of Squamish compared to neighbouring markets like Whistler, West Vancouver, and North Vancouver.
At the same time, it’s encouraging to see a slight uptick in condo sales after a period of stagnation. The townhouse segment, however, has slowed this month — somewhat unexpected given the strong momentum in the detached market. Typically, when single-family homes become more competitive and less attainable, we see renewed interest in townhomes, so this will be an interesting trend to watch heading into next month.
