Vancouver Faces Condo Glut: 2,500 Units Unsold as Development Boom Backfires

Recent industry reports reveal that approximately 2,500 newly constructed condos in Metro Vancouver remain unsold — a number that has doubled over the past year.Kelowna Real Estate This is being flagged as one of the most severe oversupply episodes in over two decades.

Senior voices in the real estate sector are sounding the alarm. Anne McMullin, CEO of the Urban Development Institute, argues the root issue lies in construction costs that have outpaced buyer affordability. She warns, “A decade of cost escalation has placed housing beyond the reach of 80% of Greater Vancouver residents. Developers simply can’t sell at a loss.”

She attributes part of the problem to burgeoning policy costs — mandates on non-market housing quotas, energy efficiency standards, and public art requirements — all of which boost development expenses. Some developers, unable to meet pre-sale thresholds, have been forced to refund deposits, while others have launched projects only to see their funding collapse and enter insolvency. “A storm is looming,” she says.

Greg Zayadi, president of Rennie, notes that the slowdown began as early as March 2022, but has intensified sharply. He cautions that this volume of unsold inventory hasn’t been seen in about 24 years. Zayadi believes many buyers reject ultra-small units; they prefer condo units sized between 800 and 1,500 square feet priced between CA$800,000 and CA$1.2 million. He suggests a more acceptable pricing range would be CA$700–$900 per square foot, a moderate premium over current market rates.

Unsold units are primarily concentrated in Burnaby, Coquitlam, and Surrey. Realtor Oleg Galyuk notes that resale condos move faster than new developments, citing poor unit layouts and scarce parking among barriers for buyers. To clear inventory, some developers now offer free parking, storage lockers, or cash rebates at closing, though such incentives eat into margins.

This predicament reflects a deeper structural mismatch: while developers build aggressively, many of those units don’t align with what residents want or can afford; and those who can buy often find inadequate choices. Without policy intervention and market recalibration, Vancouver’s housing market risks deeper turbulence.

Adding urgency to these concerns, CMHC data shows that in 2025’s first half, housing starts have flattened nationwide, and condo starts in Vancouver have declined, putting pressure on future supply.