Vancouver’s west side tops ‘most expensive neighbourhood’ list
Posted October 23, 2017 10:39 pm.
Last Updated October 24, 2017 7:20 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – It should come as no surprise that Vancouver tops real estate lists for most expensive in Canada.
In fact, Metro Vancouver neighbourhoods take up seven of the top 10.
Century 21’s “Most Expensive Places to Live” list places Vancouver’s west side at number one in Canada, at $1,201 a square foot, on average.
Andy Yan, director of Simon Fraser University’s City Program, points out that Census data shows Vancouver ranks 22nd nationally for average family income.
“There is this disconnect between housing and income in Metro Vancouver that shows significant pressures for household living here.”
He says skyrocketing home prices makes things more difficult when coupled with closing businesses, empty homes, and the rise of short-term rentals
“It’s taking us down a pathway to being a resort community and it’s a global resort community, and I think that’s the clear existential question in terms of economic development for those of us who live here.”
Another problem that Yan points out is that moving farther away doesn’t make things easier. “You don’t see affordability once you factor in transportation, you can’t outrun affordability because of the issue of transportation costs.”
Townhouses in Chilliwack bottom out BC’s list at $172 a square foot.
The least expensive city to live in Canada? Windsor, Ontario, where you can buy a place 10 times as big as the west side for the same price.
On Wednesday, Statistics Canada releases their latest report, “Housing in Canada: Key results from the 2016 Census.”
The top 10 list:
- Vancouver West Side ($1,201 per square foot).
- Downtown Vancouver ($962.75 per square foot).
- Downtown Toronto ($818.86 per square foot).
- West Vancouver ($816.61 per square foot).
- Vancouver’s east side ($718.75 per square foot).
- Oakville, Ontario ($627.33 per square foot).
- North Vancouver ($625.75 per square foot).
- Richmond ($614.20 per square foot).
- Burnaby ($588.11 per square foot).
- Richmond Hill, Toronto ($585.31 per square foot).
