What it took to sell this 1920s five-bedroom home in Dundarave

A 1920s West Vancouver house that had charmed its owners for years finally sold in mid-2025, but only after a pricing rethink that highlights today’s cooling market. Located in Dundarave, the five-bedroom home offers water views, walkability to Dundarave Village and a coveted school catchment—features that kept open houses busy even as buyers grew cautious.

The property

Type: Detached home

Neighbourhood: Dundarave

Beds: 5

Baths: 3

Year built: 1921

Parking: Garage; Double

Taxes: $7,919.78

Maintenance fees: Freehold non-strata

Days on market: 3

Listed price: $2,650,000

Sold price: $2,600,000

Listing agent: Michelle Vaughan, Royal Pacific Lions Gate Realty

The property first hit the market in May 2024 at $2.65 million, pricing below its estimated value of about $2.8 million to generate multiple offers. However, due to high interest rates, unease about the U.S. economy and general fear in the market resulted in a lack of activity. The listing was briefly pulled before returning at $2.899 million a week later.

Yet despite strong turnout and clear affection for the home, buyers still hesitated, wary of both broader economic uncertainty and the home’s quirks—most notably the one bathroom upstairs serving three bedrooms, which was a sticking point for young families with small children.

“Buyers were feeling unsettled—inventory was up and sales were sluggish,” says Michelle Vaughan of Royal Pacific Lions Gate Realty. “We didn’t know how bad it was going to be, but interest rates were higher than people had hoped and there was a lot of caution in the market.”

After multiple discussions that ran through late 2024 and into early 2025, the sellers agreed to professional staging to help the house present at its best. New photos and furnishings transformed the interiors, but there was not enough activity needed to secure an offer at the existing price. In April 2025, the price dropped to $2.799 million, a move that again produced busy open houses even as other listings sat quiet.

The sale

By late May, however, the trend was undeniable: West Vancouver prices had fallen roughly 10 per cent in 2024 and another 10 per cent in 2025, and inventory increased as financially stressed owners tried to sell. When the sellers asked what price it would take to move the property in a declining market, Vaughan’s advice was blunt: return to $2.65 million.

Relisted at $2.65 million on June 2, 2025, the home saw about eight agent groups and quickly attracted an offer, confirming that the pricing finally aligned with buyer expectations. For the sellers, it meant they could move ahead with their retirement plans rather than wait out what Vaughan believed could be an eight to 10 year recovery to prices seen in 2021.

When asked how much the five-bedroom home would be priced today if it didn’t manage to sell, Vaughan says that it would probably have to be listed at $2.499 million to attract buyers. She also advises sellers that pricing a home correctly from the start is the most effective way to achieve the highest sale price, as overpricing often causes a property to sit on the market. 

“Price is everything,” she notes. “The reason properties in West Vancouver are not selling right now is the unrealistic high asking prices.”