7 reasons selling land can be tougher than you think in 2026

Selling vacant land can feel like trying to sell an idea instead of an asset. Even in a market where housing data is constantly in the headlines, land often sits longer, attracts fewer serious buyers, and sparks bigger pricing arguments than homes. Here are seven modern, practical reasons land is so hard to sell—and why the challenge has only become more obvious in today’s slower, more rate-sensitive real estate environment.

1. Major value perception gaps (and wildly inconsistent comps)

Land pricing can be all over the map because the “story” of the property changes depending on who’s looking at it. One buyer sees a future build site; another sees a headache. That creates huge gaps between what sellers think they have and what buyers are willing to pay.

This gets worse when market conditions cool. In 2025, approximately 473,000 properties changed hands—a 1.1% dip from the prior year, according to the Real Estate Investment Council (REIC). When fewer deals happen, price discovery gets noisier: fewer comparable sales, more uncertainty, and more disagreement over value—especially for unique rural or recreational parcels.

2. Liquidity is poor (and slower markets make it worse)

If you want cash fast, land is usually the wrong asset. Vacant lots are among the most illiquid forms of real estate because the buyer pool is smaller and the due diligence is heavier. It’s common for land to take months—or longer—to sell, even with a motivated seller.

In contrast, homes have a much deeper, more active market even when things soften. The national average home price ended 2025 around $676,700, down about 1.4% from 2024, according to REIC. Housing markets can reset and keep moving; land markets often just… pause.

That slowdown shows up in other housing indicators too. Sales dropped sharply to 8,806, down 27% month-over-month yet up 1.2% year-over-year, according to WOWA.ca. When monthly activity drops that fast, discretionary purchases (including vacant land) are often the first to get delayed.

3. Land is uninhabitable without major cost, work, and risk

With a house, you can typically move in right away. With land, you’re buying potential—and paying to turn that potential into something usable. Permits, zoning, road access, environmental constraints, well/septic feasibility, power hookups, and construction costs can all derail a deal.

And when the broader market is cautious, buyers become even less willing to take on uncertainty. Even pricing benchmarks reflect a more selective environment: benchmark price declined 1.1% to $749,400, now 5.6% below last year’s level, according to WOWA.ca. In a downshift like that, buyers often prioritize “ready-to-live-in” over “maybe someday,” which puts raw land at a disadvantage.

4. Location usually works against you

Location matters for every type of real estate, but land is more extreme: one acre can be almost worthless in the wrong place and incredibly valuable in the right one. Proximity to jobs, utilities, services, and growth corridors isn’t just a bonus—it can be the entire investment thesis.

When demand weakens in major markets, the ripple effect hits land even harder. In Vancouver, new condo pre-sales year-to-date sales by spring 2025 were down about 60% from the already weak 2024 level, according to REIC. When pre-sales and urban demand cool, fewer people are thinking about expansion, second properties, or long-range building plans—especially in outlying areas where land is plentiful but buyers are scarce.

5. Financing is harder to get (so buyers need more cash)

Many buyers assume they can finance land the way they finance a home. In reality, vacant land loans are often more restrictive: higher down payments, shorter terms, stricter appraisals, and lender hesitation—especially when comps are thin and the exit plan is unclear.

Macro forecasts reinforce why buyers and lenders are cautious. RBC projects home resales will decline 3.5% in Canada to 467,100 units this year, according to RBC Economics. RBC also projects a 7.9% rebound in home resales next year reaching 504,100 units—but still below the pre-pandemic five-year average of 511,000 units, according to RBC Economics. In “below-normal” transaction environments, lenders tend to prefer simpler, more liquid collateral than vacant land.

6. Many agents don’t prioritize land (because the effort-to-commission math is rough)

Most agents are set up to sell homes, not raw acreage. Land listings often require more education, more buyer screening, more documentation, and more time—while the commission can be smaller and the closing timeline longer.

At the same time, buyers have more leverage and more options in many regions, which increases the work required to market any listing well. Some forward-looking industry outlooks even anticipate additional price pressure: average residential sale prices are expected to fall by 3.5 per cent in 2026 compared to 2025, according to RE/MAX Canada. When pricing is soft, the margin for a poorly marketed land listing shrinks further—making “set it and forget it on the MLS” even less effective.

7. Land still isn’t “sexy” (smaller buyer pool, fewer emotional purchases)

Homes sell on lifestyle, emotion, and immediacy. Land sells on plans, patience, and problem-solving. There are fewer HGTV-style fantasies tied to a vacant parcel, and fewer buyers wake up dreaming about septic perc tests and utility easements.

Even the rental market—often a driver of investor activity—can influence sentiment away from raw land. CMHC expects the rental vacancy rate, which was 0.9% in 2023, to be 2.1% in 2025 and to rise to 2.9% by 2027, according to PwC / CMHC. As vacancy rises, some investors refocus on cash-flowing assets or wait for clearer signals—reducing speculative appetite for land that may not generate income for years.

Land can still be a powerful investment, but it rarely behaves like houses, stocks, or other liquid assets. If you’re trying to sell, your best advantage is realism: price with the market (not the dream), reduce uncertainty with clear due diligence materials, and market the property like a product—because for most buyers, land is a decision they have to justify on paper, not a purchase they fall in love with at first sight.