What Your Budget Buys | $1.5M
What $1.5 million buys you
The busiest price band in the region, and the one where a $1,000 difference in list price can change your down payment by nearly two hundred thousand dollars.
The short answer
317 active newly built ground-oriented homes list between $1.3M and $1.6M, about 22.7% of the market and the largest single price band in the region. The median is $1,480,000 for 1,568 sq ft at $939 per square foot. 95 of them sit at or above the $1,500,000 price where insured mortgages end and 20% down becomes mandatory.
- Active listings
- 317
- Median size
- 1,568 sq ft
- Median per sq ft
- $939
- At or above the cap
- 95
Newly built homes listed between $1.3M and $1.6M
317 active listings
- Median list price
- $1,480,000
- Median price per sq ft
- $939
- Median size
- 1,568 sq ft
- Median strata fee
- $492
- Median annual property tax
- $4,867
typical range $1,349,900 to $1,599,000
typical range $499 to $1,196
typical range 1,244 sq ft to 2,870 sq ft
typical range $310 to $701
122 of 317 listings state one
typical range $601 to $6,626
103 of 317 listings state one
Measured across 317 active listings on .
The cliff at $1.5 million
Mortgage default insurance is what lets a buyer put less than 20% down. It stops being available at a purchase price of $1,500,000. The result is the sharpest threshold in Canadian home buying, and it sits right in the middle of this band.
| A home at $1,499,000 | A home at $1,500,000 | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum down payment | $124,900 | $300,000 |
| Mortgage insurance | Available, premium added to the loan | Not available at any premium |
| Cash you need at closing | Down payment plus property transfer tax and legal fees | Roughly $175,100 more in down payment alone |
| The home itself | Effectively identical | Effectively identical |
If you are buying near this line and do not have 20% saved, it is worth knowing the line exists before you make an offer, not after. It is also worth knowing which side of it a home sits on before you negotiate upward.
What is actually in this band
Where these homes are
- Vancouver 155 (49%)
- Burnaby 37 (12%)
- Richmond 34 (11%)
- Surrey 33 (10%)
- Delta 19 (6%)
- Coquitlam 12 (4%)
- North Vancouver 10 (3%)
- Squamish 7 (2%)
A further 10 listings sit in 5 other cities.
The neighbourhoods with the most of them
- Cambie, Vancouver 19
- Renfrew, Vancouver 16
- Killarney, Vancouver 14
- Fraser Street, Vancouver 13
- Renfrew Heights, Vancouver 11
- Grandview-Woodland, Vancouver 9
- Knight, Vancouver 8
- South Vancouver, Vancouver 8
Areas with three or more listings in this band.
How many bedrooms your money gets
- 1 bedroom 1 (0%)
- 2 bedrooms 21 (7%)
- 3 bedrooms 150 (47%)
- 4 bedrooms 74 (23%)
- 5 bedrooms 32 (10%)
- 6 bedrooms 17 (5%)
- 7 bedrooms 14 (4%)
- 8 bedrooms 4 (1%)
- 9 bedrooms 4 (1%)
Median size
1,568 sq ft
Median per sq ft
$939
Median list price
$1,480,000
Type
134 townhouses, 178 half duplexes , 5 row houses
Ownership
255 strata, 62 freehold with no strata
Why this band is the deepest
317 active listings sit here, more than any other band. Depth matters in ways that are easy to overlook. More listings means more genuinely comparable homes, which makes it easier to tell whether a price is reasonable. It also means more comparable sales when you come to sell.
This is also the first band where both product types are properly available. Lower down the region is almost entirely townhouses in complexes. Here you can realistically choose between a half duplex on a rebuilt single family street and a townhouse in a strata development, and those are very different ways to live. The price comparison between the two goes into what each costs.
Where $1.5 million reaches
This is the first band where the map fills in across the whole region, including Vancouver’s east side and the North Shore. That breadth is what makes it the deepest band.
299 of 317 homes plotted. 2 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. 16 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.
Homes listed between $1.3M and $1.6M
$1,300,00059 5311 ADMIRAL WAY
Neilsen Grove · 4 bed · 1,908 sq ft
$1,300,000101 1045 QUADLING AVENUE
Maillardville · 3 bed · 1,630 sq ft
$1,309,900221 471 W 28TH AVENUE
Cambie · 2 bed · 1,008 sq ft
$1,309,900109 3888 MORESBY DRIVE
Quilchena · 3 bed · 1,302 sq ft
$1,319,0007083 115 STREET
Sunshine Hills Woods · 5 bed · 2,448 sq ft
$1,319,900206 918 W 32ND AVENUE
Cambie · 2 bed · 1,156 sq ft
$1,320,000611 1500 FERN STREET
Lynnmour · 2 bed · 1,412 sq ft
$1,325,0003 37940 FOURTH AVENUE
Downtown SQ · 2 bed · 1,124 sq ft
$1,325,0007 3075 160 STREET
Grandview Heights · 4 bed · 2,410 sq ft
$1,328,500
Freehold
20484 76 AVENUE
Willoughby Heights · 5 bed · 2,944 sq ft
$1,328,800110 8233 WILLIAMS ROAD
Saunders · 3 bed · 1,154 sq ft
$1,329,0009497 118 STREET
Annieville · 6 bed · 2,210 sq ft
$1,329,000105 753 EDGAR AVENUE
Coquitlam West · 4 bed · 1,855 sq ft
$1,329,900104 3421 QUEENSTON AVENUE
Burke Mountain · 4 bed · 2,222 sq ft
$1,329,9001 2240 E 40TH AVENUE
Victoria-Fraserview · 4 bed · 1,518 sq ft
$1,338,000
Freehold
1 7117 LINDSAY ROAD
Granville · 3 bed · 1,367 sq ft
$1,344,900233 2830 NANAIMO STREET
Renfrew Heights · 3 bed · 1,287 sq ft
$1,348,0003 5406 MANOR STREET
Burnaby North Central · 5 bed · 2,177 sq ft
$1,348,0001 1860 MOORE AVENUE
Montecito · 4 bed · 1,526 sq ft
$1,348,00015 7100 ASH STREET
McLennan North · 3 bed · 1,352 sq ft
$1,348,8001 3800 PENDER STREET
Willingdon Heights · 3 bed · 1,406 sq ft
$1,348,800201 2135 E PENDER STREET
Hastings · 3 bed · 1,358 sq ft
$1,349,000102 2322 EMERY COURT
Lynn Valley · 3 bed · 1,624 sq ft
$1,349,000
Freehold
7745 115A STREET
Scottsdale · 6 bed · 2,275 sq ft
292 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 does $1.5 million buy in Metro Vancouver?
A newly built half duplex or townhouse of about 1,568 sq ft, and at this price the choice widens to include Vancouver's east side, Burnaby, North Vancouver, and Richmond alongside the suburbs. It is the busiest price band in the region.
Why does the $1.5 million mark matter?
Because mortgage default insurance is unavailable at or above $1,500,000. Below it you can buy with $124,900 down on a $1,499,000 home. At exactly $1,500,000 the minimum jumps to $300,000. A $1,000 difference in list price can cost you $175,100 in cash at closing.
Do I pay property transfer tax at this price?
Yes, in full. The newly built home exemption ends at $1,150,000, so the whole band is above it. On a $1.5 million purchase the tax is $28,000. Budget for it as cash at closing, because it cannot be added to the mortgage.
Is a half duplex or a townhouse the better buy at this price?
It depends what you want to own. At this level the half duplexes are usually rebuilt single family lots with more floor area and no complex, while the townhouses are in strata developments closer to transit with amenities and a higher monthly fee. Both are genuinely available at $1.5M, which is not true lower down.
Is this the best value band?
It is the deepest band, which is a different thing. Depth means more choice and more comparable sales, which helps both when you buy and when you sell. On pure square feet per dollar the Fraser Valley wins by a wide margin.
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.
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- CMHC, mortgage loan insurance for consumers
Insurance is unavailable at a purchase price of $1.5M or more, where 20% down is required.
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- CMHC, mortgage loan insurance premiums
2.80% at 80.01 to 85% LTV, 3.10% to 90%, 4.00% to 95%.
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- Government of BC, property transfer tax rates
1% to $200,000, 2% to $2M, 3% above $2M, plus a further 2% on residential value above $3M.
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- Government of BC, newly built home PTT exemption
Full exemption at $1,100,000 or less, partial to $1,150,000. Effective 1 April 2024.
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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.