What Drives the Price | Size for Your Money
How much space your money buys, city by city
The clearest way to see what a shorter commute costs. Same product type, same two year build window, ordered by how big the homes actually are.
The short answer
West Vancouver has the largest newly built ground-oriented homes in the region at a median of 2,465 sq ft. Surrey's median home is 436 sq ft larger than Vancouver's and $620,901 cheaper, on the same product type built in the same two year window. That trade is the clearest thing in this entire dataset.
- Largest median home
- 2,465 sq ft
- In
- West Vancouver
- Regional median
- 1,586 sq ft
- Cities measured
- 19
Median home size, largest first
The note beside each bar is the median list price in that city, so you can read size and price together rather than one at a time.
- West Vancouver $2,863,950 2,465 sq ft
- Burnaby $1,649,000 2,308 sq ft
- Delta $1,299,900 2,253 sq ft
- Pitt Meadows $1,224,900 2,206 sq ft
- Surrey $1,028,999 1,950 sq ft
- Mission $837,400 1,881 sq ft
- Squamish $1,489,000 1,725 sq ft
- Langley $989,850 1,702 sq ft
- Chilliwack $687,400 1,660 sq ft
- Abbotsford $799,900 1,609 sq ft
- North Vancouver $1,495,000 1,575 sq ft
- Port Coquitlam $1,099,000 1,548 sq ft
- Vancouver $1,649,900 1,514 sq ft
- Coquitlam $1,178,950 1,511 sq ft
- New Westminster $1,067,394 1,499 sq ft
- Maple Ridge $839,850 1,465 sq ft
- Port Moody $1,199,900 1,408 sq ft
- Pemberton $1,099,000 1,400 sq ft
- Richmond $1,363,800 1,381 sq ft
The trade, at its starkest
| Vancouver | Surrey | |
|---|---|---|
| Active listings | 515 | 175 |
| Median list price | $1,649,900 | $1,028,999 |
| Median size | 1,514 sq ft | 1,950 sq ft |
| Median per sq ft | $1,138 | $555 |
| Four bedrooms or more | 150 | 115 |
| Median strata fee | $458 | $325 |
The Surrey home is bigger, cheaper to buy, and cheaper to run every month. Everything it costs you is on a map rather than in a spreadsheet. That is not an argument for either city. It is the shape of the choice.
Every city, ordered by median size
| City | Active | Median price | Per sq ft | Median size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Vancouver | 6 | $2,219,000 to $3,380,000 | $974 to $1,537 | 2,465 |
| Burnaby | 118 | $1,649,000 | $737 | 2,308 |
| Delta | 41 | $1,299,900 | $589 | 2,253 |
| Pitt Meadows | 6 | $1,049,450 to $1,299,000 | $501 to $654 | 2,206 |
| Surrey | 175 | $1,028,999 | $555 | 1,950 |
| Mission | 42 | $837,400 | $415 | 1,881 |
| Squamish | 19 | $1,489,000 | $830 | 1,725 |
| Langley | 92 | $989,850 | $570 | 1,702 |
| Chilliwack | 18 | $687,400 | $410 | 1,660 |
| Abbotsford | 55 | $799,900 | $506 | 1,609 |
| North Vancouver | 47 | $1,495,000 | $986 | 1,575 |
| Port Coquitlam | 10 | $1,099,000 | $690 | 1,548 |
| Vancouver | 515 | $1,649,900 | $1,138 | 1,514 |
| Coquitlam | 86 | $1,178,950 | $769 | 1,511 |
| New Westminster | 10 | $1,067,394 | $709 | 1,499 |
| Maple Ridge | 22 | $839,850 | $516 | 1,465 |
| Port Moody | 5 | $1,181,900 to $1,287,900 | $853 to $896 | 1,408 |
| Pemberton | 15 | $1,099,000 | $785 | 1,400 |
| Richmond | 92 | $1,363,800 | $918 | 1,381 |
A dash means fewer than four active listings, which is too few to publish a figure for. Rows with four to seven listings show a range instead of a median.
Common questions
Which city has the biggest new townhouses in Metro Vancouver?
West Vancouver, at a median of 2,465 sq ft across 6 active listings. Burnaby, Surrey, and Delta all sit well above the regional median of 1,586 sq ft, largely because their newly built stock leans toward half duplexes on rebuilt single family lots rather than townhouses in complexes.
How much more space do you get in Surrey than in Vancouver?
About 436 sq ft more at the median, for about $620,901 less. Surrey's median newly built ground-oriented home is 1,950 sq ft at $1,028,999. Vancouver's is 1,514 sq ft at $1,649,900.
Why are homes in Vancouver smaller?
Because the lots are narrow and expensive. A builder replacing a single family house on a 33 foot Vancouver lot has very little width to work with, so the homes go up three storeys with a small floor plate. In the suburbs the lots are wider and the land is cheaper, so the same budget buys floor area instead.
Is bigger better?
Only if you use the space. A 2,300 square foot home costs more to heat, more to furnish, more to clean, and usually carries a higher property tax bill. What the numbers do settle is that the size difference between cities is not small, so it is worth deciding deliberately rather than by default.
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
See the homes behind these numbers
Every figure on this page comes from listings you can open. Search the full set of newly built townhouses, half duplexes, and row houses, and filter by price, bedrooms, freehold or strata, pets, and parking.