New Construction | The purchase
Presale or Move-In Ready
These are different transactions wearing the same word. One is a purchase of a home; the other is a contract for a home that will exist later.
The short answer
A move-in ready home can be inspected, financed against a known property, and occupied on completion. A presale is a contract for something not yet built, with deposits at risk over a longer period, a completion date that can move, and no ability to inspect what you are buying.
Every newly built townhouse, half duplex, and row house on the market
1,322 active listings
- Median list price
- $1,358,000
- Median price per sq ft
- $812
- Median size
- 1,607 sq ft
- Median strata fee
- $373
- Median annual property tax
- $4,186
typical range $845,210 to $2,197,200
typical range $482 to $1,252
typical range 1,208 sq ft to 2,697 sq ft
typical range $225 to $642
609 of 1322 listings state one
typical range $1,888 to $7,463
418 of 1322 listings state one
Measured across 1,322 active listings on .
Where these homes are
Click a pin for the photo, the price, and a Street View link.
300 of 1,322 homes plotted. 943 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. 79 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 behind these numbers
$399,900133 601 HARRISON AVENUE
Coquitlam West · 1 bed · 431 sq ft
$449,900SL 1 320 N NANAIMO STREET
Hastings Sunrise · 1 bed · 572 sq ft
$555,000111 7161 17TH AVENUE
Edmonds · 1 bed · 626 sq ft
$569,000C 7533 WREN STREET
Mission · 2 bed · 941 sq ft
$579,900151 2451 N GRANDVIEW HIGHWAY
Renfrew Heights · 1 bed · 490 sq ft
$584,9009 7300 COPPERWOOD STREET
Lower Landing · 3 bed · 1,560 sq ft
$599,0001726 TEMPLETON DRIVE
Grandview-Woodland · 1 bed · 559 sq ft
$609,90062 8430 NOTTMAN STREET
Mission · 3 bed · 1,420 sq ft
$619,9002 595 E 49TH AVENUE
Fraser Street · 2 bed · 645 sq ft
$624,90023 33525 KINGSTON AVENUE
Poplar · 3 bed · 1,272 sq ft
$629,9003 2886 MONTROSE AVENUE
Central Abbotsford · 2 bed · 1,275 sq ft
$629,9008 7300 COPPERWOOD STREET
Lower Landing · 3 bed · 1,611 sq ft
1,307 more active listings are not shown here. Search every active listing . Prices are the list price. Most new homes have GST added on top.
What you can and cannot check
With a finished home you can walk through it, inspect it, see the light at different times, and hear what the neighbours sound like. With a presale you have a disclosure statement, plans, and a display suite that is not your unit.
That is the fundamental difference and everything else follows from it.
Time is the risk
A presale ties up deposits for a period measured in years, during which your circumstances, interest rates, and lending rules can all change. The mortgage you qualify for today is not the mortgage you will be approved for at completion, because approval happens then, not now.
Completion dates move. Contracts contain outside dates that govern how long the developer has, and understanding that clause before you sign matters more than almost anything else in the document.
Where the buyer protections are
Presales in BC sit under a disclosure regime. The developer must provide a disclosure statement, and there is a rescission period after receipt during which a buyer may cancel. Those protections are real and they are time limited.
The specifics, including the length of the rescission period and what triggers it, are set by legislation and are worth confirming with your lawyer against the actual contract rather than a summary.
In this market, most of what is listed already exists
The homes in this data are overwhelmingly finished or close to it, because the scope is homes built in the last two years. A small number are still under construction and show a future completion year.
So for most buyers here the presale question does not arise. Where it does, treat it as a different decision rather than a variation on the same one.
Side by side
| Move-in ready | Presale | |
|---|---|---|
| Can you inspect it | Yes, the actual home | No, only plans and a display suite |
| When financing is approved | Now, against a real property | At completion, under the rules that apply then |
| Deposit at risk for | Weeks | Often years |
| Completion date | Fixed in the contract | Governed by an outside date that can move |
| Cooling off | Subject conditions you negotiate | A statutory rescission period after the disclosure statement |
| What you are buying | A home | A contract for a home |
Read next
Common questions
Is a presale riskier than a finished home?
It carries different risks: a longer period with deposits committed, financing approved at completion rather than now, and a completion date governed by an outside date clause. It is not automatically a worse decision, and it is a different one.
Can I get out of a presale contract?
There is a statutory rescission period after you receive the disclosure statement, and it is time limited. Beyond that, exiting depends on the contract. Have a lawyer review the contract during the rescission period, which is what it exists for.
Will my mortgage still be approved at completion?
Approval happens at completion under the rules and your circumstances at that time, not today's. That is one of the main risks of a long presale timeline and it is worth discussing with a broker before committing.
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
- BC Housing, new homes registry and warranty
Confirms a builder's licence and a home's 2-5-10 warranty coverage.
Checked
See what is on the market
Every home in this search was built in the last two years, so everything in this hub applies to it. Filter by price, bedrooms, parking, and distance to a station.