Selling
How to Price a Vancouver Home Using Comparable Sales
Why a home is worth what a buyer can justify against recent sales, not what you need or what a website guesses. How comparables are chosen and adjusted, why active listings matter, and how to pick a list price that works in the first two weeks.
Every seller has a number in mind. It usually comes from a neighbour's sale, an online estimate, the assessment notice, or what the mortgage and the next purchase require. None of those is how a buyer decides what to pay.
A buyer, or more precisely a buyer's agent and a buyer's lender, decides by looking at what comparable homes actually sold for recently, and at what else is for sale right now. The price your home will fetch is the price a buyer can justify against that evidence. The whole job of pricing is to see that evidence before the buyer does.
What counts as a comparable
A comparable sale is a recent, completed sale of a property a buyer would consider a reasonable substitute for yours. The closer it is on these points, the more weight it carries:
- Location. Same building or complex first, then the same block or micro-area. A sale across a major road or on the other side of a school catchment is a weaker comparable than it looks on a map.
- Property type and size. Condo to condo, house to house. Within condos: floor plan, square footage, bedroom count and whether the second "bedroom" is actually a den.
- Age and construction. A 1974 wood-frame walk-up and a 2016 concrete mid-rise are different products even at the same square footage.
- Recency. Sales within the last three months carry the most weight. Six months is usable with care. A year-old sale in a moving market tells you about last year.
- Condition and renovations. Not just whether a kitchen was done, but how well, and whether the rest of the unit matches.
For a Vancouver condo I usually start with every sale in the building over the past year, then widen to the two or three most comparable buildings nearby. For a house, I start with the same side of the same few streets, then adjust for lot size and frontage, because land drives the number.
Adjusting the comparables
No comparable is perfect, so each one is adjusted toward your property. The adjustments that typically matter in Vancouver:
| Factor | Typical direction |
|---|---|
| Floor level and view | A water or mountain view is worth real money; a higher floor with the same view is worth a little |
| Outdoor space | A usable deck or terrace, especially south- or west-facing, adds value; a Juliet balcony does not |
| Parking and storage | Having a stall matters most where parking is scarce (Downtown, Kits, Mount Pleasant); two stalls matter for family units |
| Strata fees | Higher fees reduce what a buyer can carry; the adjustment is bigger in lower price ranges |
| Levies and building condition | An approved levy is subtracted; a thin reserve in an older building is a discount even without a levy |
| Renovations | Quality and age of work, and whether it was permitted |
| Lot size, frontage and zoning (houses) | Multiplex potential, laneway house, corner lot, lane access |
| Tenancy | A tenant in place narrows the buyer pool and can lower the price unless the buyer is an investor |
The output is a range, not a point. If three good comparables adjust to $812,000, $826,000 and $835,000, the market value is somewhere in that band and the list price is a strategic choice within it.
Why active listings matter as much as sold ones
Sold comparables tell you what the market was willing to pay. Active listings tell you what your buyer will see this weekend instead of your home. If four similar units are listed between $799,000 and $819,000 and have been sitting for six weeks, listing yours at $849,000 on the strength of a spring sale is not a pricing strategy; it is a way to make the other four look reasonable.
The relationship between sales and active listings is also what the monthly Greater Vancouver REALTORS® statistics measure. When the sales-to-active-listings ratio is low, buyers have choice and pricing must be sharp. When it is high, a correctly priced home can attract more than one offer.
The numbers that are not comparables
Assessed value. BC Assessment's figure is an estimate of market value as of July 1 of the previous year, prepared for property tax purposes from mass data. It is a reference point, not a pricing tool, and in a moving market it is routinely tens of thousands of dollars away from what a specific home sells for.
Online estimates. They cannot see the inside of your home, the strata minutes, the view, or the new listing three doors down. They are a starting point for curiosity, not a basis for a list price.
The neighbour's asking price. An active listing shows what a seller hoped for. Only the sale price shows what a buyer agreed to.
What you need. Your mortgage balance and your next purchase are real constraints on whether to sell. They have no effect on what a buyer will pay.
Choosing the list price
With a defensible range in hand, the list price is a decision about how to enter the market:
- At market value. The default. Attracts the full pool of buyers who can afford the home and signals that you are serious.
- Slightly below, to encourage competition. Can work in a tight market with a scarce product, with a clear plan for how offers will be handled. In a slow market it simply sells the home for less.
- Above, to test. Occasionally justified for a unique property. Usually it burns the first two weeks, when the most buyers see a new listing, and leads to a reduction that buyers read as weakness.
Whatever the strategy, the plan should include what happens if the first two weeks do not produce the expected showings or offers. A price is a hypothesis; the market's response is the data.
What a proper pricing review contains
When I prepare a pricing review for a seller, it includes the comparable sales with the adjustments shown, the active competition, the relevant building or block history, a recommended range and strategy, and a short preparation list. The range is confirmed after seeing the property. It is an opinion of value for the purpose of deciding whether and how to sell, not an appraisal.
The point is not to produce the highest number. It is to produce the number a buyer will pay, early enough that you can plan around it.