Half Duplex

Buying a half duplex in Metro Vancouver

The most common newly built ground-oriented home in this city, and the one with the least written about it that is actually useful. What you own, what it costs, and what to check before you offer.

The short answer

A half duplex is one of two homes built on a lot that previously held a single family house. 670 are active in Metro Vancouver, 47% of all newly built ground-oriented homes, at a median $1,586,500 for 1,895 sq ft. They list above townhouses here, because of where they get built rather than what they are.

Active half duplexes: 670
Share of the market: 47%
Median price: $1,586,500
Median per sq ft: $876

Newly built half duplexes on the market

670 active listings

Median list price: $1,586,500
Median price per sq ft: $876
Median size: 1,895 sq ft
Median strata fee: $365
Median annual property tax: $5,070

Measured across 670 active listings on 9 October 2026.

Half duplex against townhouse

Measured from active listings on 2026-10-09.
	Half duplex	Townhouse
Active listings	670	721
Median list price	$1,586,500	$1,109,000
Median per sq ft	$876	$787
Median size	1,895 sq ft	1,472 sq ft
Freehold, no strata	194 of 670	32 of 721
What you are buying	Half of a rebuilt single family lot, usually a strata of two	A unit in a complex, with a council and a management company

Where they are

The geography is most of the story. Half duplexes exist where the rules let a builder replace one house with two, and where the land supports it. That is heavily concentrated.

Vancouver 342
Burnaby 85
Surrey 78
Delta 33
Coquitlam 21
Abbotsford 20

Everything in this hub

WHAT IT IS

Half Duplex or Townhouse: Which Should You Buy

The two most common newly built ground-oriented homes in this region, compared on price, size, strata, and what daily life is actually like in each.

Half Duplex or Condo: What Changes

Moving from an apartment to a half duplex changes what you own, what you maintain, and what you pay every month. What to expect.

Half Duplex or Detached House

What you give up and what you keep when you buy half of a rebuilt lot instead of a whole one, on the same street.

OWNERSHIP

Freehold or Strata: What You Actually Own

The ownership question that decides your monthly cost, your rules, and who pays when something major needs replacing.

What a Two-Owner Strata Is Really Like

Most half duplexes sit in a strata with exactly one other household. What that means for decisions, costs, and disputes.

The Strata Documents to Read Before You Offer

Which documents to ask for on a half duplex, what each one tells you, and the specific things to look for in a very small strata.

LIVING IN ONE

Front Half or Back Half: They Are Different Homes

On a front-and-back duplex the two halves differ on light, outdoor space, street noise, parking, and price. What to weigh.

The Shared Wall and What You Will Hear

What decides how much you hear through a party wall, why newly built is better than the stock people compare it to, and what to check.

Yard and Outdoor Space in a Half Duplex

How much outdoor space a half duplex actually comes with, whether it is legally yours, and what to establish before you offer.

Parking and the Garage

How parking works on a half duplex, why one space is common, and what to confirm about the driveway and the garage.

Buying a Half Duplex With a Suite

Some newly built half duplexes include a rental suite. What that changes about the mortgage, the strata rules, and the risk you take on.

MONEY

What Half Duplexes Cost

Measured prices for newly built half duplexes across Metro Vancouver, and how they compare with townhouses and with the market as a whole.

Getting a Mortgage on a Half Duplex

How lenders treat half duplexes, what a very small strata means for financing, and where the questions differ from a standard purchase.

Insuring a Half Duplex

How insurance splits between the strata policy and your own, and the gap that catches half duplex owners out.

WHERE

Half Duplexes in Vancouver

Vancouver carries more newly built half duplexes than anywhere else in the region. Where they are, what they cost, and what the lots mean for the homes.

Half Duplexes in Burnaby

Burnaby's wider lots produce the largest newly built ground-oriented homes in the region, and a higher share of freehold than Vancouver.

Half Duplexes on the North Shore

North and West Vancouver carry a smaller half duplex market with the highest strata fees in the region and a commute defined by bridges.

BEFORE YOU OFFER

Do Half Duplexes Hold Their Value

An honest answer to the question everyone asks, including what this data can and cannot tell you about future value.

Questions to Ask Before You Offer

The specific questions that matter on a half duplex, grouped so you can work through them during a subject period.

Every half duplex on the market

Click a pin for the photo, the price, and a Street View link, so you can see the street the home actually sits on.

300 of 670 homes plotted. 355 more have coordinates but were left off to keep the map readable. The ones shown are spread evenly across the price range rather than taken from one end. 15 listings have no coordinates in the feed and cannot be placed. Click a pin for the photo, the price, and a Street View link. Zoom with the plus and minus buttons or by pinching.

Half duplexes for sale

652 more active listings are not shown here. Search every active listing . Prices are the list price. Most new homes have GST added on top.

Common questions

What is a half duplex?

One of the two homes created when a single family house is replaced by a pair, either side by side or front and back. You own your half, usually through a strata with one other owner, and you share one wall. It is the most common newly built ground-oriented home in Vancouver.

Is a half duplex cheaper than a townhouse?

Not in this market. The median newly built half duplex lists at $1,586,500 against $1,109,000 for a townhouse. Half duplexes replace houses on established residential streets where land is expensive, while townhouse complexes divide their land cost across many more homes.

Do half duplexes have strata fees?

Usually a small one. 194 of the 670 active half duplexes are freehold with no strata at all, and most of the rest sit in a strata of two owners with very little common property to maintain.

Where are most half duplexes?

Vancouver (342), Burnaby (85), Surrey (78) carry the most. Richmond has almost none, so if a half duplex is specifically what you want, that narrows the geography considerably.

How current are these numbers?

Every figure is recalculated from active MLS listings on each site build, last measured on 2026-10-09. They describe what is on the market now, not what has sold.

Where these figures come from

VanPlex active listings, MLS® data
Active townhouses, half duplexes, and row houses built in the last two years across Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.

Checked 7 August 2026
BC Housing, new homes registry and warranty
Confirms a builder's licence and a home's 2-5-10 warranty coverage.

Checked 7 August 2026

See the half duplexes on the market

Every figure in this hub comes from listings you can open. Search the full set and filter by price, bedrooms, freehold or strata, pets, parking, and distance to a station.

Search half duplexes Compare with townhouse prices