In a seller's market, pricing mistakes are forgiving. Overprice by 5% and a bidding war might still bail you out. Underprice and you create a frenzy that pushes the final number above what you hoped for anyway.

Metro Vancouver has not been that market for a while now.

With homes taking an average of 100 days to sell, active listings sitting nearly 40% above the 10-year seasonal average, and the sales-to-active listings ratio hovering around 9% to 13%, pricing is no longer one of several strategic decisions. It is the strategic decision.

The Cost of Overpricing

Every seller believes their property is special. In many cases, they are right. But "special" does not override market conditions.

When a property is overpriced in a buyer's market, the most damaging thing that happens is not that it fails to sell immediately. It is that it becomes stale. Buyers and their agents track days on market closely. A property that has been listed for 60, 90, or 120 days sends a signal: something is wrong.

Sometimes nothing is wrong other than the price. But by the time a seller adjusts, the initial wave of interest has passed. The buyers who would have been most excited about the property at the right price have already moved on. The price reduction ends up being larger than the original overpricing because the seller is now chasing a market that has mentally discounted the property.

This dynamic is particularly acute in the condo segment right now, where prices have dropped roughly 11% year-over-year in some measurements and inventory continues to build.

What Accurate Pricing Looks Like

Accurate pricing in 2026 means understanding three things simultaneously.

First, comparable sales from the last 30 to 60 days, not from six months ago. The market is still adjusting, and older comparables overstate where values sit today. Sold data from the same neighbourhood and similar property type within the last two months is the baseline.

Second, current competition. It is not enough to know what similar properties sold for. You need to know what you are competing against right now. If there are eight comparable listings on the market, you need to be priced to stand out among them, not simply match them.

Third, the buyer profile. Different property types attract different buyers with different motivations. A first-time buyer looking at a $550,000 condo is rate-sensitive and comparison-shopping aggressively. An investor evaluating a commercial or multi-unit property is looking at cap rates and cash flow. A family looking at a $1.5 million detached home in a good school catchment is making a lifestyle decision. Pricing strategy needs to account for who you are selling to and what they care about.

The First Two Weeks

Research consistently shows that a property generates the most buyer interest in its first two weeks on market. That window is when it appears in "new listing" alerts, gets the most online views, and draws the most showing requests.

If a property is priced correctly for the current market during those two weeks, it has the best chance of attracting competitive interest and selling at or near asking. If it is overpriced, those two weeks are wasted on tire-kickers and lowball offers, and the listing enters the long tail of declining interest.

This is why we advise clients to invest time in pricing strategy before listing, not after. A well-priced property that sells in 30 days almost always delivers a better net outcome than an overpriced property that sells in 120 days after one or two price reductions.

Strategic Underpricing: When It Works and When It Does Not

In hotter markets, strategic underpricing was a common tactic: list below market value to generate multiple offers and drive the price up through competition. Some agents still recommend this approach.

In the current market, strategic underpricing carries real risk. If there is not enough buyer demand to generate competitive offers, you may end up selling below what the property is worth. The tactic depends on competition that may not materialize at the volumes needed.

That said, pricing slightly below the most comparable listings can still be effective as a way to stand out in a crowded segment. The key is the difference between pricing for a bidding war, which is risky right now, and pricing for attention, which can work if the fundamentals of the property support it.

What We Tell Our Clients

At Iconic Properties Group, we approach every listing with the same question: what is the price that generates a transaction within a reasonable timeline while maximizing your net return?

That answer requires current data, honest analysis, and a willingness to have difficult conversations about where the market actually is versus where we wish it was. We would rather price a property correctly from day one and deliver a clean sale than chase a fantasy number for months and end up lower than where we should have started.

The market rewards discipline right now. Sellers who understand that will come out ahead.

Thinking about listing your property? Iconic Properties Group provides complimentary property valuations backed by current market data and strategic insight. Call us at (778) 987-7029 or email contact@iciconic.com.