VANPLEX
David Babakaiff
Written by David Babakaiff — Co-Founder, VanPlex | 25+ Years BC Construction

What Your Budget Buys | $1M

What $1 million buys you

The $900,000 to $1.1M band is the most consequential price range in this market, and not because of what the homes look like. It is where the newly built home tax exemption ends.

The short answer

220 active newly built ground-oriented homes list between $900,000 and $1.1M, about 15.8% of the market. The median is $999,900 for 1,507 sq ft at $648 per square foot. 220 of them sit at or below the $1,100,000 newly built home threshold, where property transfer tax drops to zero.

Active listings
220
Median size
1,507 sq ft
Median per sq ft
$648
Tax-exempt
220 of 220

Newly built homes listed between $900,000 and $1.1M

220 active listings

Median list price
$999,900

typical range $929,900 to $1,099,000

Median price per sq ft
$648

typical range $458 to $939

Median size
1,507 sq ft

typical range 1,109 sq ft to 2,314 sq ft

Median strata fee
$353

typical range $236 to $499

153 of 220 listings state one

Median annual property tax
$3,270

typical range $1,581 to $4,327

60 of 220 listings state one

Measured across 220 active listings on .

The $1.1 million cliff

British Columbia gives a full property transfer tax exemption on a newly built home up to $1,100,000. Between there and $1,150,000 the exemption shrinks in proportion. Above that it is gone.

On a $1,000,000 purchase the tax you avoid is $18,000. That is not a rounding error, and it is a genuine reason to look hard at the top of your range. A home at $1,090,000 and a home at $1,160,000 are $70,000 apart on the listing and roughly $21,200 further apart once the tax lands.

The exemption requires you to move in within 92 days of registration, keep it as your principal residence for the first year, and buy a parcel of 0.5 hectares or less. It is for people moving in, not for an investment purchase.

What you pay on a $1,000,000 newly built home

List price $1,000,000
GST at 5% Normally added on top. A rebate may reduce it on qualifying purchases. $50,000
Property transfer tax before exemption 1% of the first $200,000, then 2% of the rest. $18,000
Newly built home exemption Full exemption applies at or below $1,100,000. -$18,000
Total before legal fees and adjustments $1,050,000

Legal fees, title insurance, and closing adjustments are extra and are not shown here. Rebate eligibility depends on your circumstances, so confirm it with the Canada Revenue Agency or your lawyer before relying on it.

What is actually in this band

Where these homes are

  • Langley 42 (19%)
  • Surrey 38 (17%)
  • Coquitlam 28 (13%)
  • Vancouver 24 (11%)
  • Richmond 20 (9%)
  • Mission 16 (7%)
  • Abbotsford 14 (6%)
  • Pemberton 9 (4%)

A further 29 listings sit in 9 other cities.

The neighbourhoods with the most of them

  • Willoughby Heights, Langley 39
  • Mission, Mission 16
  • Hamilton, Richmond 13
  • Coquitlam West, Coquitlam 12
  • Grandview Heights, Surrey 11
  • Burke Mountain, Coquitlam 11
  • Abbotsford East, Abbotsford 11
  • Pemberton, Pemberton 9

Areas with three or more listings in this band.

How many bedrooms your money gets

  • 1 bedroom 1 (0%)
  • 2 bedrooms 23 (10%)
  • 3 bedrooms 119 (54%)
  • 4 bedrooms 53 (24%)
  • 5 bedrooms 6 (3%)
  • 6 bedrooms 17 (8%)
  • 7 bedrooms 1 (0%)

Median size

1,507 sq ft

Median per sq ft

$648

Median list price

$999,900

Type

164 townhouses, 47 half duplexes , 9 row houses

Ownership

179 strata, 41 freehold with no strata

Where $1 million reaches

Surrey, Langley, Coquitlam, Richmond, and the Fraser Valley carry this band. Click a pin for the photo and a Street View link before you rule an area in or out.

197 of 220 homes plotted. 23 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 $900,000 and $1.1M

196 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 million buy in Metro Vancouver?

A newly built townhouse or half duplex of roughly 1,507 sq ft, in Surrey, Langley, Coquitlam, Richmond, or the Fraser Valley. In Vancouver itself, $1 million buys very little new ground-oriented housing, because the median there sits far above this band.

Why does $1.1 million matter so much as a threshold?

Because the newly built home property transfer tax exemption is full up to $1,100,000 and disappears entirely at $1,150,000. On a $1,000,000 purchase that exemption is worth $18,000. Crossing the threshold by $60,000 can cost you the whole amount.

What is the minimum down payment on a $1 million home?

$75,000, which is 5% of the first $500,000 plus 10% of the next $500,000. Mortgage default insurance still applies below 20% down, and it remains available because the price is under the $1.5 million cap.

How much is GST on a $1 million new home?

$50,000 at 5%, added on top of the list price unless the contract says otherwise. Most listings in this set state that GST is not included. The GST new housing rebate can reduce it on qualifying purchases, so confirm your eligibility before you budget the full amount.

Is a $1 million new townhouse better value than an older detached house?

They are different products and the data here cannot compare them, because this feed covers only newly built ground-oriented homes. What it can tell you is that at this price a new home comes with current code, a warranty framework, and no deferred repairs, which an older house at the same price will not.

Where these figures come from

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.

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