The best and worst Vancouver neighbourhoods to buy a condo or townhome (INFOGRAPHIC)

It’s no secret that making the move from renting to purchasing a home any number of Metro Vancouver neighbourhoods is an exciting time. However, with recent stats suggesting that it now takes 88% of one’s median household income to manage said home once bought, this can also be a time of particularly high-stress levels.

Sure, you’re now able to enter the market, but where do you begin to look? Where are the homes that have what you’re looking for and fall within your budget?

While these types of questions can no doubt linger on the minds of prospective buyers, a new report from Canadian online real estate site Zolo hopes to help answer some of those questions.

The report, by Zolo’s Director of Content Romana King looked at various neighbourhoods throughout the city to find what Zolo dubbed the “best and worst places in which to buy a condo or townhome.”

Methodology

So how did they do it? Well, according to King, the process took a few steps.

“We first we created a value score,” she writes. “This score examined the average condo and average townhome price in each neighbourhood and then compared it to surrounding neighbourhoods, the overall municipality average home price and to the average price of a condo or townhome in the greater municipality.”

In other words, she said, “we weren’t just looking for cheap neighbourhoods.”

Next, “we examined how fast condos and townhomes were appreciating.”

Then King said, Zolo examined each neighbourhood’s economic strength. “This was hard,” she added. “Most real estate rankings compare cities because the analysts can compare GDP growth, unemployment statistics as well as other economic factors. These measurements aren’t available at the neighbourhood level.”

10 Best Neighbourhoods to Buy a Condo in the Greater Vancouver Area in 2018

1. Coquitlam East, Coquitlam, Greater Vancouver – $480,200
2. West End VW, Vancouver, Greater Vancouver – $908,068
3. Coquitlam West, Coquitlam, Greater Vancouver – $510,385
4. Downtown VW, Vancouver, Greater Vancouver – $861,441
5. North Coquitlam, Coquitlam, Greater Vancouver – $506,432
6. Central Coquitlam, Coquitlam, Greater Vancouver – $390,142
7. Bolivar Heights, Surrey, Fraser Valley / Lower Mainland – $205,528
8. Granville, Richmond, Greater Vancouver – $230,315
9. Lower Lonsdale, North Vancouver, Greater Vancouver – $692,434
10. Langley City, Langley, Fraser Valley / Lower Mainland – $302,651

10 Worst Neighbourhoods to Buy a Condo in Greater Vancouver in 2018

1. Sea Island, Richmond, Greater Vancouver – $672,450
2. Hamilton, Richmond, Greater Vancouver – $657,000
3. English Bluff, Tsawwassen, Greater Vancouver – $362,000
4. Hemlock, Mission, Fraser Valley – $99,750
5. Deer Lake, Burnaby, Greater Vancouver – $1,000,000
6. Indian River, North Vancouver, Greater Vancouver – $686,657
7. Citadel, Port Coquitlam, Greater Vancouver – $1,038,000
8. Clayton, Surrey, Fraser Valley – $344,912
9. McLennan, Richmond, Greater Vancouver – $648,000
10. Bear Creek Green Timbers, Surrey, Fraser Valley – $320,785

10 Best Neighbourhoods to Buy a Townhouse in the Greater Vancouver Area in 2018

1. Mary Hill, Port Coquitlam, Greater Vancouver – $589,077
2. West End VW, Vancouver, Greater Vancouver – $1,427,833
3. Murrayville, Langley, Fraser Valley / Lower Mainland – $570,097
4. Lower Lonsdale, North Vancouver, Greater Vancouver – $1,060,163
5. Holly, Delta, Fraser Valley / Lower Mainland – $599,000
6. Downtown VW, Vancouver, Greater Vancouver – $1,152,617
7. Burnaby Hospital, Burnaby, Greater Vancouver – $791,429
8. Bridgeview, Surrey, Fraser Valley / Lower Mainland – $434,284
9. Fort Langley, Langley, Fraser Valley / Lower Mainland – $1,061,700
10. Edgemont, North Vancouver, Greater Vancouver – $1,586,677

10 Worst Neighbourhoods to Buy a Townhouse in Greater Vancouver in 2018

1. Brennan Center, Squamish, Greater Vancouver – $747,043
2. Cliff Drive, Tsawwassen, Greater Vancouver – $648,234
3. Clayton, Surrey, Fraser Valley – $522,289
4. Tsawwassen Central, Tsawwassen, Greater Vancouver – $617,000
5. West Newton, Surrey, Fraser Valley – $490,518
6. Fraserview VE, Vancouver, Greater Vancouver – $832,603
7. Pacific Douglas, Surrey, Fraser Valley – $653,818
8. Sunnyside Park, Surrey, Fraser Valley – $747,091
9. Sullivan Station, Surrey, Fraser Valley – $552,905
10. Morgan Creek, Surrey, Fraser Valley – $739,914

Infographic by Zolo

Infographic by Zolo

Happy house hunting!

See also

• 88% of median household income needed to manage a home in Vancouver: report
• Vancouver named most expensive city in Canada according to global survey
• BC Government launching new public real estate registry