How to Use Sold Comps to Spot a Good Deal in BC (2026)

How to Find Good Comps in 5 Minutes

Finding comps used to require a realtor pulling MLS data for you. On Zealty, sold prices and sold dates are visible to anyone with a free account, so you can do it yourself. Here is the approach.

• Match the property type. Compare condos to condos, townhouses to townhouses, detached houses to detached houses. A townhouse and a condo in the same neighbourhood are different products with different buyers and different values.
• Stay local. Use the same neighbourhood, or at minimum the same city. Prices shift block to block in BC. A Whalley condo and a South Surrey condo are both in Surrey, yet they are not the same market.
• Match size and layout. Look for a close match on bedrooms, bathrooms, and square footage. A 650-square-foot one-bedroom is not a comp for a 1,100-square-foot two-bedroom, even in the same building.
• Keep it recent. Sales from the last three to six months reflect today's market. A sale from two years ago tells you about a different market that no longer exists.
• Aim for three to five comps. One sale can be a fluke. Three to five similar sales reveal a pattern you can trust.

On Zealty you can run a custom map search or a list search, filter by sold status, and sort by sold date to surface the most recent comparable sales. You can also save the search so Zealty emails you when new comparable sales appear.

Compare on Price Per Square Foot, Not Just Price

Total price hides a lot, because no two homes are exactly the same size. The fix is price per square foot, which is simply the sale price divided by the interior square footage. It turns two differently sized homes into numbers you can compare directly.

Say a 700-square-foot condo sold for $490,000. That is $700 per square foot. A 900-square-foot condo nearby sold for $603,000, which is $670 per square foot. The bigger one costs more in total, yet it is cheaper per square foot, which often means it is the better value. Price per square foot is the great equalizer.

Local context matters here, because per-square-foot values vary widely across British Columbia. Burnaby condos currently run a median of about $911 per square foot, while Surrey condos sit closer to $693. Neither number is right or wrong. They reflect different neighbourhoods, different buildings, and different demand. The lesson is to compare a home only against others in its own market, then use price per square foot to spot the outliers within that market.

Read the Ask-to-Sold Ratio and Days on Market

Two more numbers turn a pile of comps into real negotiating insight: the ask-to-sold ratio and days on market.

The ask-to-sold ratio compares the final sale price to the original asking price. If similar homes nearby are selling for 97 percent of their asking price, that tells you sellers in that area are typically giving up about three percent at the table. That is your starting point for what a reasonable offer might look like. If comparable homes are selling at or above asking, you have far less room, and lowball offers will simply lose.

Days on market, often shortened to DOM, is how long a listing sat before it sold. It is one of the clearest signals of pricing and demand. Right now Surrey condos are taking a median of 56 days to sell, Metro Vancouver listings around 49 days, and Coquitlam townhouses about 35 days. A home that sells in well under its local median was probably priced sharply or in high demand. A home sitting far longer than the local median is often overpriced, which can be your opening to negotiate.

Put those together and a clear picture forms. If a listing has been on the market for 80 days in an area where comps sell in 40, and nearby homes are closing at 96 percent of asking, you are looking at a property with negotiating room. If a listing is fresh and comparable homes are flying off the market at full price, you adjust your expectations and move quickly.

Adjust for the Things Comps Do Not Capture

No two homes are identical, so the final step is to adjust for differences between your comps and the home you are judging. This is where you use judgment, not just arithmetic.

• Condition and updates. A renovated kitchen, new flooring, or updated bathrooms add value. A comp that sold in original 1990s condition will price lower than a recently updated unit, so account for the difference.
• Floor, view, and exposure. In a condo building, a high floor with a view and morning light sells for more than a low floor facing a parking lot, even with identical square footage.
• Outdoor space and parking. A balcony, a private yard, or a second parking stall all move the number.
• Strata health. For condos and townhouses, a building with healthy reserves and no looming special levy is worth more than one facing a large repair bill. Always check the depreciation report and strata finances before you anchor on a price.

The goal is not a perfect formula. The goal is an informed estimate. After looking at three to five comps, converting to price per square foot, checking ask-to-sold ratios and days on market, and adjusting for condition and features, you will land on a realistic value range for the home. If the asking price sits inside or below that range, it is fairly priced. If it sits well above, you have evidence to negotiate or to walk away.

Where to Start on Zealty

You can do all of this on Zealty with a free account. Sold prices, sold dates, and full MLS pricing history are available once you sign in, alongside price changes, expirations, and original list prices, which is exactly the data you need to calculate ask-to-sold ratios and spot overpricing. Zealty also shows assessed values and AI-powered OfferValue estimates from Offerland as extra reference points.

Start with a list or map search in the area you are considering, filter to recently sold homes that match your target on type, size, and bedrooms, and sort by sold date. Compare the numbers, do the per-square-foot math, and you will judge listings with the same evidence a professional uses. None of this guarantees a steal, and that is not the point. The point is that you make decisions on real data instead of a seller's hopeful asking price.

See recent sold prices across British Columbia on Zealty and start building your own comps.