Vancouver Housing Market and Election Aftermath

October 20, 2026 - 03:20

The political landscape in Vancouver has shifted dramatically following the recent municipal election, with significant implications for housing policy. ABC Vancouver and Ken Sim suffered a decisive defeat, dropping from a supermajority on Council to holding just a single seat. Pete Fry is now Mayor, and Council will have a 5 Green, 4 COPE, 1 OneCity, 1 ABC split, representing a heavy progressive lean.

While Fry's victory dominates headlines, the broader story is the new composition of Council. Policy whiplash is expected. Regarding housing, the results can be partly explained by a galvanized progressive side of Vancouver, motivated by lack of progress on affordable housing and Sim's ban on net new supportive housing, among other moves. Fry secured 13,000 more votes than Sim did in 2022.

Across British Columbia, the overall theme was change, with many incumbents losing. Brenda Locke lost to Doug McCallum in Surrey, Mark Sager lost to Kirk LaPointe in West Vancouver, Patrick Johnstone lost to Daniel Fontaine in New West, and Meghan Lahti lost to Haven Lurbiecki in Port Moody. New mayors were also elected in Richmond and Coquitlam after long-time mayors Malcolm Brodie and Richard Stewart both stepped down.

Ahead of the provincial election, UDI, the BC Non-Profit Housing Association, the Aboriginal Housing Management Association, and the Co-operative Housing Federation of BC have banded together and called on every party to commit to four actions. The leaders of Wesgroup and Townline published letters citing the need for change.

Supportive housing has been a contested issue in municipal elections. The Globe and Mail recently profiled Rivers Reach in Maple Ridge, which was once the subject of strong opposition but has now won over its neighbourhood. The M'akola Housing Society has launched a new initiative called Protect Affordable Indigenous Housing in British Columbia to highlight the state of affordable Indigenous housing. The City of Richmond may use its power to expropriate Watermania.

Woodbourne's $127.1 million credit bid for the remaining three phases of Portwood in Port Moody has been approved by the Supreme Court after no other bidders surfaced. BC Housing has initiated a civil suit against the developers pertaining to Phase One.

The Wall Street Journal recently published two separate stories about new real estate financing models that have popped up in the US. One is for presales, where purchasers at a luxury condo building in California have the option to lend to the developer via a Founder Bond. The other is a new kind of mortgage where the loan is based on the potential rental income of the property, not the borrower's wealth.