Single-family homes, 60-day look-back across active, pending and sold inventory. 641 properties analyzed.
449 active single-family listings against a combined absorption of 192 properties (103 sold + 89 pending) over 60 days, a pace of roughly 97 homes moving per month.
That lands squarely in balanced-market territory (4 to 6 months), with a slight tilt toward buyers. Pending sales are counted as already-absorbed demand, since that inventory has left the active pool even before closing.
Active mean sits about 20% above active median. A handful of estate listings up to $6.5M are pulling the average up. For a read on "typical," use the median.
The active pool skews toward longer-sitting stock, consistent with the inventory overhang. One 299-day relist skews the sold mean; the 28-day median is the fairer read.
List-to-sell ratio: 98.9% median (95.9% mean). Most homes are closing near their original asking price, not a chased-down one.
from just 15.1% of active inventory
| Layout | Active Share | Txn Share | Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rancher | 15.1% | 21.9% | Outperforming |
| Split Entry | 6.5% | 12.0% | Outperforming |
| Main Level Entry, Upper | 15.1% | 16.7% | Slightly up |
| Ground Level Entry w/ Main Up | 21.2% | 18.2% | Proportional |
| Main Level Entry, Lower/Upper | 9.8% | 9.4% | Proportional |
| Main Level Entry, Lower Level(s) | 27.4% | 16.1% | Underperforming |
Median list-to-sell ratio, measured against original list price rather than the price shown at close, since Price Current gets overwritten to the sold price once a listing closes, so original list is the only clean "before it moved" figure.
Mean sits lower, at 95.9%, pulled down by a handful of larger reductions on higher-priced properties before they found a buyer.
A market settling into balance: 4.6 months of inventory, homes closing within a point of their original ask, and demand concentrating in North Nanaimo, Ranchers and Split Entry layouts. The one soft spot: Main Level Entry with Lower Level(s) homes make up over a quarter of active inventory but only a sixth of what's moving.
Nanaimo doesn't trade in isolation. Rates, inflation, debt loads and population shifts set the conditions every local buyer and seller is working within this month.
The Bank of Canada has held its policy rate at 2.25% since October 2025 (last confirmed July 15, 2026), with variable rates now pricing below fixed in some products. Inflation sits at the upper edge of the 1–3% target band, but core measures remain closer to 2%. Canadian households continue to carry the heaviest debt load in the G7, a structural headwind on affordability that shows up most in entry-level demand. Sources: Bank of Canada, Statistics Canada (Jul 2026 CPI, released Aug 17), OECD Household Debt Indicator.
Both B.C. and Canada posted their first annual population decline on record in 2025 — though not their first quarterly decline; Statistics Canada notes isolated quarterly dips going back through the comparable record starting in 1951. The driver is not British Columbians leaving for other provinces — interprovincial migration into B.C. has stayed modestly positive. It's the collapse in non-permanent residents (down 117,879 nationally in Q1 2026 alone) following federal immigration caps. Fewer net new households forming is a demand headwind, concentrated at entry-level and rental-investor stock. Sources: BC Stats Quarterly Population Highlights, CPABC BC Check-Up Q1 2026, Statistics Canada Quarterly Demographic Estimates (released Jun 17, 2026).
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| 2025 total sales | 23,800 (weakest in 20+ years) |
| Composite benchmark, Jul 2026 | $1,088,800 (-6.2% y/y) |
| Detached benchmark | $1,822,900 |
| Townhouse benchmark | $1,030,400 |
| Apartment benchmark | $688,000 |
Greater Vancouver logged its weakest sales year in over two decades in 2025, and prices have continued to soften through the summer: the composite benchmark is down 6.2% year over year with inventory sitting above seasonal norms. By contrast, Nanaimo's own single-family benchmark held at $822,200, up roughly 1% year over year as of August 2026. That divergence is consistent with Nanaimo continuing to capture buyers priced out of the Lower Mainland even as broader Island activity softens. Sources: Greater Vancouver Realtors (GVR) monthly market report, CREA, late summer 2026.
Steady rates, inflation near target, the heaviest household debt load in the G7, and a national population now shrinking for the first time on record: together these describe a market absorbing pressure from multiple directions at once. Nanaimo's relative resilience against a softening Greater Vancouver is the local story worth watching over the next quarter.