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

Start Here | Cheapest Areas

The cheapest places to buy a new ground-oriented home

Every neighbourhood priced below the regional median per square foot, measured from listings on the market now. What each one costs you in exchange is stated rather than skipped over.

The short answer

49 neighbourhoods price below the regional median of $805 per square foot, carrying 635 active listings between them. The lowest is Lower Landing in Chilliwack at $377, where the median home is 1,666 sq ft and lists at $664,900.

Areas below the median
49
Regional median
$805
Lowest per sq ft
$377
Listings in them
635

Cities priced below the regional median

Ordered cheapest first. Every city here prices under $805 per square foot, which is the median across the whole active set.

  • Chilliwack 20 listings $409
  • Mission 51 listings $430
  • Abbotsford 56 listings $502
  • Pitt Meadows 5 listings $521
  • Maple Ridge 18 listings $523
  • Surrey 175 listings $551
  • Delta 46 listings $555
  • Langley 91 listings $563
  • Ladner 4 listings $598
  • Port Coquitlam 13 listings $679
  • New Westminster 10 listings $709
  • Burnaby 138 listings $719
  • Coquitlam 95 listings $758
  • Pemberton 14 listings $785

Every neighbourhood below the regional median

Cheapest first. Areas with fewer than four active listings are left out, because at that sample one home moves the figure enough to mislead.

Median price per square foot below the regional median. Median size in square feet.
Neighbourhood City Active Median price Per sq ft Median size Townhouse / half duplex
Lower Landing Chilliwack 9 $664,900 $377 1,666 8 / 1
Chilliwack Proper East Chilliwack 5 $681,900 to $815,360 $409 to $424 1,660 4 / 1
Bolivar Heights Surrey 14 $1,444,000 $414 3,543 0 / 14
Mission Mission 50 $789,000 $431 1,777 33 / 17
Abbotsford West Abbotsford 8 $729,900 $461 1,580 8 / 0
Nordel Delta 4 $1,329,240 to $1,434,310 $459 to $537 2,850 0 / 4
Cedar Hills Surrey 8 $1,234,890 $487 2,660 3 / 5
Sechelt District Sechelt 4 $682,000 to $906,200 $487 to $601 1,411 4 / 0
Cloverdale Surrey 13 $1,375,000 $496 2,778 5 / 8
Abbotsford East Abbotsford 25 $959,900 $496 2,085 5 / 16
Sullivan Station Surrey 20 $899,000 $502 1,953 16 / 4
Central Abbotsford Abbotsford 20 $789,900 $508 1,569 14 / 5
Queen Mary Park Surrey 5 $899,000 to $998,920 $507 to $532 1,784 5 / 0
Annieville Delta 10 $1,238,000 $513 2,390 0 / 10
South Meadows Pitt Meadows 5 $1,207,360 to $1,299,000 $497 to $641 2,492 2 / 3
Fraser Heights Surrey 14 $1,029,950 $529 1,969 10 / 4
Langley City Langley 5 $723,900 to $1,219,599 $457 to $698 1,364 4 / 0
Scottsdale Delta 12 $1,328,500 $539 2,555 0 / 12
Panorama Ridge Surrey 4 $810,499 to $1,249,270 $522 to $613 1,597 3 / 1
Fleetwood Tynehead Surrey 18 $994,900 $549 1,877 12 / 6
Willoughby Heights Langley 80 $974,850 $562 1,702 55 / 18
Whalley Surrey 5 $769,940 to $956,560 $559 to $638 1,530 5 / 0
Albion Maple Ridge 7 $715,780 to $863,840 $495 to $585 1,445 7 / 0
Cottonwood MR Maple Ridge 4 $654,400 to $824,900 $516 to $634 1,226 4 / 0
Upper Deer Lake Burnaby 5 $1,788,000 to $2,498,000 $571 to $692 3,879 1 / 4
Grandview Heights Surrey 39 $1,199,900 $590 2,037 18 / 21
Pacific Douglas Surrey 9 $1,229,900 $605 2,040 4 / 5
East Newton Surrey 8 $841,800 $621 1,415 5 / 3
Forest Glen Burnaby 18 $1,449,900 $627 2,311 8 / 10
Ladner Elementary Delta 6 $1,318,900 to $1,499,900 $605 to $705 2,224 2 / 3
South Slope Burnaby 6 $1,678,000 to $2,093,000 $606 to $723 2,791 0 / 6
East Burnaby Burnaby 11 $1,648,000 $672 2,414 0 / 11
Tantalus Squamish 4 $1,109,000 to $1,319,000 $582 to $745 1,858 4 / 0
Burke Mountain Coquitlam 32 $1,124,900 $679 1,576 31 / 1
Edmonds Burnaby 11 $1,078,000 $689 1,523 6 / 5
Central Port Coquitlam Port Coquitlam 10 $1,079,900 $690 1,547 6 / 4
Capitol Hill BN Burnaby 5 $1,529,940 to $2,399,000 $663 to $797 2,308 0 / 5
Queensborough New Westminster 6 $887,394 to $1,097,400 $663 to $732 1,395 6 / 0
Scott Creek Coquitlam 4 $975,900 to $1,183,900 $668 to $761 1,351 4 / 0
Central Coquitlam Coquitlam 4 $1,213,540 to $1,317,200 $622 to $812 1,796 0 / 4
Highgate Burnaby 11 $1,408,800 $739 1,844 3 / 8
Hamilton Richmond 25 $984,000 $743 1,270 25 / 0
Sperling-Duthie Burnaby 15 $1,575,000 $756 1,911 2 / 13
Maillardville Coquitlam 20 $1,254,500 $765 1,572 1 / 19
Westridge Burnaby 6 $1,499,999 to $2,690,000 $634 to $852 2,072 2 / 4
Pemberton Pemberton 14 $1,099,000 $785 1,400 1 / 5
Burnaby North Central Burnaby 4 $1,328,300 to $1,484,000 $650 to $926 1,865 1 / 3
Willingdon Heights Burnaby 9 $1,579,000 $796 2,010 7 / 2
West Cambie Richmond 4 $1,017,630 to $1,327,300 $762 to $832 1,410 4 / 0

A dash means fewer than four active listings, which is too few to publish a figure for. Rows with four to seven listings show a range instead of a median.

What the low price is actually buying

It is not a lower standard of construction. Every home in this set was finished within the last two years, under the same provincial building code, with the same warranty framework, using the same trades and suppliers as a home twice the price.

It is not less space either. In several of these areas the median home is larger than the regional median of 1,617 sq ft, because cheaper land lets a builder spread out rather than build up.

What it is buying is distance. That is the honest summary, and it is worth testing rather than assuming. Open a map, put in the address and your workplace, and check the travel time at the hour you actually leave. If the answer works, the saving is real money. If it does not, no price per square foot makes up for it.

Every area below the regional median, mapped

The single most useful thing on this page. The saving is real, and so is the distance, and a map settles the second question far faster than a table does.

300 of 635 homes plotted. 296 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. 39 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 in the lowest-priced areas

78 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

Where is the cheapest place to buy a new townhouse in the Vancouver area?

Measured by price per square foot, Lower Landing in Chilliwack at $377. Chilliwack, Mission, Abbotsford, and Hope hold the lowest figures overall. Inside Metro Vancouver proper, the lowest rates are in the eastern suburbs rather than anywhere in Vancouver itself.

Are cheaper areas cheaper because the homes are smaller?

No, and often the opposite. Several of the cheapest areas have median homes larger than the regional median of 1,617 sq ft. Land is what varies, not the building. Where land is cheap the builder has room to spread out, so the homes tend to be bigger.

What is the catch with the cheapest neighbourhoods?

Distance, and the transit that comes with it. Almost every area below the regional median is a long drive from the downtown core with no rapid transit connection. If you already drive to work, that costs you little. If you rely on transit, it costs you a great deal.

Do cheaper areas hold their value?

This page measures list prices on the market today, so it cannot answer a question about future value, and any page that claims to is guessing. What the data does show is that these markets are thinner, with fewer active listings per neighbourhood, which usually means slower sales in both directions.

Is a cheaper area a good idea for a first home?

It puts a brand new home with warranty within reach on a smaller budget, and it keeps a buyer inside both property transfer tax exemption thresholds. Whether it is right depends almost entirely on where a buyer needs to be during the week.

How many neighbourhoods price below the regional median per square foot?

49 neighbourhoods price below the regional median of $805 per square foot, carrying 635 active listings between them. Areas with fewer than four active listings are left out of this count, because at that sample size one home moves the figure enough to mislead.

What size home does the cheapest neighbourhood typically have?

In Lower Landing, Chilliwack, the median home is 1,666 sq ft and lists at $664,900. That is the lowest price per square foot in the dataset, at $377, and the home size there is not smaller than the regional median despite the lower price.

Are the homes in cheaper areas built to a lower standard?

Every home in this dataset was finished within the last two years under the same provincial building code, with the same warranty framework, using the same trades and suppliers as a home priced far higher. The price difference in these areas comes from land cost, not construction quality.

Where these figures come from

General information, not financial advice. Prices, fees, and market figures change and vary by property. Confirm current numbers before making a decision.

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.