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AUGUST 2025 MARKET UPDATE

NANAIMO, BC – The Vancouver Island Real Estate Board (VIREB) recorded 692 unit sales (all property types) in August 2025, up six per cent from one year ago. Year-over-year active listings (all property types) were 4,405, down three per cent from the previous year.

In the single-family category (excluding acreage and waterfront), 339 homes sold in August, up three per cent from one year ago and down 19 per cent from July. Sales of condo apartments last month came in at 74, an increase of nine per cent year over year and up four per cent from July. In the row/townhouse category, 72 units changed hands in August, up four per cent from one year ago and down 24 per cent from July.

Active listings of single-family homes were 1,424 last month compared to 1,564 in August 2024.

VIREB’s inventory of condo apartments was 396 in August, down from the 437 listings posted one year ago. There were 355 row/townhouses for sale last month compared to 364 in August 2024. VIREB Chair Olivier Naud notes that VIREB’s housing market is in the mid-range of balanced, with approximately six months of inventory

“August was slower than July, but that’s typical with back to school on the horizon,” says Naud. “However, sales were up from the previous August, and our market is proving to be resilient. There is pent-up demand but still some hesitancy that we attribute to ongoing tariff concerns.”

However, Naud adds that tariff worries have turned out to be more of a psychological deterrent than an economic one. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that the 35 per cent tariff is only on non-compliant goods, which is a very small share of exports (less than 10 per cent).

“The effective tariff rate on all Canadian exports to the United States is about five per cent only, and on U.S. imports to Canada, it’s about two per cent,” says Naud. “So, there has actually been minimal impact on growth or inflation, which has likely contributed to our resilient market.”

Regardless of market conditions, connecting with a local REALTOR® can help you understand current market conditions and smooth the way to a successful real estate transaction.

For more information and full update, check out the following resources on REALTOR Link®.

AUGUST 2025 Statistics Package

Our AUGUST 2025 Market Update is provided above and available on YouTube; it summarizes our housing market in about two minutes.

Please note: The Vancouver Island Real Estate Board (VIREB) transitioned to a new MLS® System in July 2020 and now uses a significantly different data model, which has affected our categories and terminology. For the boardsupplied graphs, single-family is now referred to as single-family detached, apartment as condo apartment, and townhouse as row/townhouse, which now includes patio homes. However, when reporting HPI numbers, VIREB still refers to single-family, apartment, and townhouse in the media release.