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
323 active newly built ground-oriented homes list between $1.3M and $1.6M, 22.9% of the market and the largest single price band in the region. The median is $1,479,900 for 1,661 sq ft at $868 per square foot. 99 of them sit at or above the $1,500,000 price where insured mortgages end and 20% down becomes mandatory.
- Active listings
- 323
- Median size
- 1,661 sq ft
- Median per sq ft
- $868
- At or above the cap
- 99
Newly built homes listed between $1.3M and $1.6M
323 active listings
- Median list price
- $1,479,900
- Median price per sq ft
- $868
- Median size
- 1,661 sq ft
- Median strata fee
- $494
- Median annual property tax
- $4,989
typical range $1,350,000 to $1,599,000
typical range $474 to $1,120
typical range 1,304 sq ft to 3,045 sq ft
typical range $314 to $734
118 of 323 listings state one
typical range $2,603 to $6,626
94 of 323 listings state one
Measured across 323 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 | $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 138 (43%)
- Surrey 43 (13%)
- Burnaby 40 (12%)
- Richmond 31 (10%)
- Delta 22 (7%)
- Coquitlam 15 (5%)
- Squamish 12 (4%)
- North Vancouver 10 (3%)
A further 12 listings sit in 8 other cities.
The neighbourhoods with the most of them
- Renfrew, Vancouver 18
- Cambie, Vancouver 15
- Grandview-Woodland, Vancouver 11
- Renfrew Heights, Vancouver 11
- Fraser Street, Vancouver 10
- Grandview Heights, Surrey 10
- Bolivar Heights, Surrey 9
- Hastings Sunrise, Vancouver 9
Areas with three or more listings in this band.
How many bedrooms your money gets
- 2 bedrooms 13 (4%)
- 3 bedrooms 144 (45%)
- 4 bedrooms 91 (28%)
- 5 bedrooms 27 (8%)
- 6 bedrooms 16 (5%)
- 7 bedrooms 19 (6%)
- 8 bedrooms 7 (2%)
- 9 bedrooms 4 (1%)
- 10 bedrooms 2 (1%)
Median size
1,661 sq ft
Median per sq ft
$868
Median list price
$1,479,900
Type
136 townhouses, 185 half duplexes , 2 row houses
Ownership
253 strata, 70 freehold with no strata
Why this band is the deepest
323 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 two 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 323 homes plotted. 19 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. 5 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
$1,309,900104 6355 MAH BING STREET
Brighouse · 2 bed · 1,268 sq ft
$1,310,000101 7672 156A STREET
Fleetwood Tynehead · 5 bed · 2,200 sq ft
$1,319,0002 4561 CHARLOTTE COURT
Forest Glen · 4 bed · 1,800 sq ft
$1,319,0007085 E 115 STREET
Sunshine Hills Woods · 5 bed · 2,448 sq ft
$1,319,900108 53 KONG COURT
Cape Horn · 3 bed · 1,446 sq ft
$1,325,000101 1149 DANSEY AVENUE
Central Coquitlam · 4 bed · 2,057 sq ft
$1,325,0001 6388 ARGYLE STREET
Killarney · 3 bed · 1,544 sq ft
$1,325,0007 3075 160 STREET
Grandview Heights · 4 bed · 2,410 sq ft
$1,328,0002619 MCGILL STREET
Hastings Sunrise · 5 bed · 1,489 sq ft
$1,329,900104 3421 QUEENSTON AVENUE
Burke Mountain · 4 bed · 2,222 sq ft
$1,338,0002866 SEMLIN DRIVE
Grandview-Woodland · 3 bed · 1,208 sq ft
$1,338,8001 3018 E 19TH AVENUE
Renfrew Heights · 3 bed · 1,406 sq ft
$1,338,80032 10188 NO. 1 ROAD
Steveston North · 3 bed · 1,290 sq ft
$1,339,900144 3546 MONSON CRESCENT
Burke Mountain · 4 bed · 2,366 sq ft
$1,344,900233 2830 NANAIMO STREET
Renfrew Heights · 3 bed · 1,287 sq ft
$1,348,0002 3033 SHELL ROAD
West Cambie · 4 bed · 1,783 sq ft
$1,348,00015 7100 ASH STREET
McLennan North · 3 bed · 1,352 sq ft
$1,349,000107 5212 CAMBIE STREET
Cambie · 2 bed · 1,141 sq ft
$1,349,0002 1238 LE ROI STREET
Renfrew · 3 bed · 1,530 sq ft
$1,349,00011917 CHALMER PLACE
Scottsdale · 6 bed · 3,135 sq ft
$1,349,879
Freehold
101 9820 130 STREET
Cedar Hills · 6 bed · 2,628 sq ft
$1,349,900
Freehold
6363 SOUTHLANDS DRIVE
Boundary Beach · 3 bed · 1,422 sq ft
$1,349,900102 932 LYTTON STREET
Windsor Park NV · 3 bed · 1,287 sq ft
298 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 1,661 sq ft at the median, 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.
How many listings in this band sit above the insured mortgage cap?
99 of the 323 active listings between $1.3M and $1.6M sit at or above $1,500,000, where mortgage default insurance is unavailable and 20% down becomes mandatory. The remaining listings still qualify for insured financing with a smaller down payment, which is why the exact list price on either side of that line changes the cash needed at closing so sharply.
What is the property transfer tax on a $1.5 million home?
$28,000, payable in full since the newly built home exemption ends at $1,150,000 and this whole band sits above it. That amount is due as cash at closing and cannot be added to the mortgage, so it needs to be budgeted for separately from the down payment.
Why is this the largest single price band in the region?
323 active listings sit in this band, more than any other price range this hub tracks, which is 22.9% of the whole market. It is also the first band where both townhouses and half duplexes are properly available side by side, rather than the market leaning almost entirely toward one product type.
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.