Start Here | Does Transit Cost More
What living near SkyTrain actually costs
Everyone assumes there is a premium. There is, and it is not where most people think it is: the total price barely moves, and the square footage does.
The short answer
Newly built ground-oriented homes within 1200 metres of a station list at $997 per square foot against $758 further out, about 32% more. But they are also 11% smaller, so the gap in total price is only about 12%. You are paying more per square foot and buying less of it.
- Near a station, per sq ft
- $997
- Further out, per sq ft
- $758
- Gap per sq ft
- 32%
- Gap in total price
- 12%
Near a station against everything else
| Within 1200 m of a station | Everything further out | |
|---|---|---|
| Active listings | 320 | 923 |
| Median list price | $1,488,000 | $1,329,900 |
| Median per sq ft | $997 | $758 |
| Median size | 1,485 sq ft | 1,666 sq ft |
| Median strata fee | $467 | $350 |
| Two or more parking spaces | 92 of 320 | 606 of 923 |
| Four bedrooms or more | 107 | 414 |
Measured across 1,322 active listings on .
The gap holds at every distance
A single radius invites the objection that the answer depends on where you drew the line. It does not. Price per square foot rises the closer you get, at all three thresholds.
- Within 800 m 166 homes $1,024
- Within 1200 m 320 homes $997
- Within 2000 m 566 homes $967
- Everything further out 923 homes $758
What you are actually buying
The headline is that transit-adjacent homes cost about 32% more per square foot. The more useful number is that they cost only about 12% more in total, because they are 11% smaller.
Put those together and the trade becomes clear. Moving to a station does not mostly cost you money. It costs you room. The budget stays roughly where it was and the floor plan shrinks, which is a very different decision from the one people think they are making.
There is an offset the price tables cannot see. If a station lets your household run one car instead of two, that is a saving in insurance, fuel, maintenance, and depreciation every year for as long as you live there. Whether it covers the premium depends on your own numbers, but it belongs in the comparison.
When paying the premium makes sense
Works well if
- ✓ Buying near a station would genuinely let you drop a car
- ✓ Your commute is to a place the network actually reaches, at hours it runs
- ✓ You would rather have a smaller home in a denser area than a larger one further out
- ✓ You do not need four bedrooms, which are much thinner near stations
Does not work if
- ✕ You would keep both cars regardless, so the offset never arrives
- ✕ You need floor area, which is exactly what the premium takes
- ✕ Your workplace is not near the network, which is true of a lot of the region
Check before you offer
- → The real walk from the address to the station, on a map, not the straight line on this page
- → The parking allocation on the specific listing, since one space is common near stations
- → Your actual door-to-door commute at the hour you travel, including the wait
- → Whether the strata allows you to rent out a parking space you do not need
Common questions
Do homes near SkyTrain cost more?
Per square foot, clearly. $997 within 1200 metres of a station against $758 beyond it, a gap of about 32%. The gap holds at 800 m and at 2 km as well, so it is not an artifact of where the line was drawn.
Is the total price gap as big as the per square foot gap?
No, and this is the part most people miss. Homes near stations are 11% smaller, so while the rate is 32% higher the median total price differs by only about 12%. You are not paying much more in total. You are getting less home for it.
Is a home near transit worth the premium?
That depends on a number this page cannot know: what a car costs you. If living near a station means running one car instead of two, the annual saving is real money set against a higher price per square foot. If you would keep both cars anyway, you are paying the premium and not collecting the offset.
Does the premium mean these homes will hold value better?
This page measures asking prices on the market today. It cannot tell you what will happen to resale value, and any page that gives you a number for that is guessing. What it can tell you is what the market currently charges for proximity, which is a different and more checkable claim.
Why measure at three distances?
Because a single radius invites the objection that the result depends on where you drew the line. Running it at 800 m, 1,200 m, and 2 km shows the gap is not an artifact of the threshold. The figures on this page are all at 1,200 m unless another radius is named.
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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- TransLink, open data and GTFS
Station and stop locations for the transit distance calculations.
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Filter the whole search by station
Every home on these pages is in the main search, where you can pick the stations you want and set how far you are willing to walk, then filter by price, bedrooms, and everything else.