Selling This Spring? Here’s the Pricing Strategy That Wins in 2026

If you're listing your home in Burnaby, New Westminster, or Coquitlam this spring, the single decision that will affect your final sale price more than any other is your list price.

Get it right and you generate showings, multiple offers, and a sale at the top of your range. Get it wrong and your home sits, gets stale, attracts lowballs, and ends up selling for less than it was worth in week one.

I'm Juliana Vallée, REALTOR® with RE/MAX Heights Realty, and here's the pricing playbook that's working in spring 2026.

The Three Pricing Lanes Every Seller Faces

Lane 1: Aspirational Pricing (the trap)

You list 5–10% above current market value, hoping to "leave room" for negotiation. In a 2022 market, this sometimes worked. In 2026, it almost never does. Buyers have selection. They eliminate overpriced homes from their shortlist before they even see them. Your home sits, the days-on-market clock ticks, and you end up reducing — usually below where realistic pricing would have landed you.

Lane 2: Market Pricing (the safe play)

You list at what a strong Comparative Market Analysis says your home is worth today. You'll get reasonable interest, reasonable timing, and a reasonable result. Solid — but rarely exceptional.

Lane 3: Strategic Pricing (the winner)

You list at — or just below — current market value to maximize first-week traffic. The goal: drive multiple offers and let the market itself decide your final number. In Greater Vancouver markets where buyers have selection, this consistently produces the highest sale prices.

Why Strategic Pricing Beats Aspirational in 2026

Inventory in Greater Vancouver is well above the 10-year seasonal average. That means buyers are rarely choosing between just one or two homes — they're choosing between five, eight, ten. Selection is your enemy when you're overpriced. It's your friend when you're positioned right.

The numbers tell the story. Homes priced at or just below market value attract more showings in week one, generate competitive offers more often, and close faster — all of which protect your sale price from the kind of erosion you see when a listing goes stale.

How I Build a Pricing Strategy for Your Home

1. Recent solds. Pull comparable sales from the last 90 days in your immediate neighbourhood — not city-wide averages.
2. Active competition. What is on the market right now in your price range? What features and finishes do they have vs yours?
3. Expired listings. Which similar homes did NOT sell, and why? Pricing is the most common answer.
4. Absorption rate. At the current pace of sales in your specific property type and price range, how many months of inventory exist?
5. The launch plan. Once we agree on price, the marketing has to match — professional photography, video, staging, targeted ads. A strategic price with weak marketing is just an underpriced home.

What This Looks Like in Practice

I recently worked with a seller in New Westminster who was convinced their condo was worth $679,000 because their neighbour's identical unit had sold at that price 18 months earlier. Current comps said $629,000–$639,000.

We listed at $629,000. By Sunday evening of the first weekend, we had three offers. Final sale: $646,000 — meaningfully higher than the $629,000 list, and well above where we would have ended up if we had started at $679,000 and chased the market down.

Strategic pricing is not underpricing. It's pricing to win.

Get a Real Number for Your Home

The only way to know what your home is actually worth in spring 2026 is a current, hands-on valuation from a REALTOR® who is actively selling in your neighbourhood. Online estimates use stale data and can be off by tens of thousands.

Free spring valuation — visit www.sellers-challenge.com or text 778-822-8000

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Proven results with over 16+ years experience.