While Vancouver is continuously ranked one of the best places in the world to live, the affordability of our city seems to plummet every year. With the 2015 B.C. Assessment Roll issued earlier this month, the cost of living is confirmed to be higher this year than ever.
For instance, a single family home on Vancouver’s East side on a 33′ lot that was valued at $892,000 in 2014 was valued at $993,000 in 2015. That’s an increase of just over 10 per cent.
Overall, “the benchmark price for detached properties increased 8.1 per cent from December 2013 to $1,002,200,” says the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.
This begs me to ask the question, what does a $1 million CAD house in Vancouver look like? And how does it compare with some of the other most populous cities in North America?
So here was my query: What can you get for $1 million CAD in Vancouver and 25 other cities across Canada and the U.S.? My criteria for this search was based on the traditional aspects of a house big enough for a small family:
- a detached home
- minimum three bedrooms
- a yard
- close to the city
- in a decent neighbourhood
North America’s top housing markets were last announced in March 2014 by the Financial Post, with Vancouver at #1. They reported an average home in the city came in around $864,000 CAD, followed by San Francisco at just over $800,000. By a considerable gap, San Diego, Toronto and Los Angeles closed out the top five around the $500,000 mark.
The above averages presumably include all types of housing, not just detached homes, so it’s hard to say exactly how far $1 million takes you in cities where the majority of housing is made up of condos and apartments. New York City, for example, is listed as having an average home price of $455,000 CAD, considerably lower than Vancouver due to the abundance of achingly-small apartments.
So let’s say you had $1 million to spend on a house…
Upon selecting these homes, I tried my best to choose homes the average person would live in. When there was lots of selection, neighbourhood and quality of home took precedent. When there wasn’t much choice, proximity to the city was number one.
Vancouver, British Columbia
Neighbourhood/Region: Hastings-Sunrise, Vancouver
Distance from city centre: 6 km
Square footage: 1700 sq. ft.
Number of bedrooms: 4
Asking price: $998,000
Images: Realtor.ca
Victoria, British Columbia
Neighbourhood/Region: Rockland, Victoria
Distance from city centre: 2.5 km
Square footage: 3020 sq. ft.
Number of bedrooms: 4
Asking price: $1,045,000
Images: Realtor.ca
Seattle, Washington
Neighbourhood/Region: Mt. Baker, Seattle
Distance from city centre: 5.5 km
Square footage: 3260 sq. ft.
Number of bedrooms: 4
Asking price: $885,000 USD
Images: Zillow
Portland, Oregon
Neighbourhood/Region: Multnomah, Portland
Distance from city centre: 8.4 km
Square footage: 3086 sq. ft.
Number of bedrooms: 4
Asking price: $869,000 USD
Images: Sotheby’s Realty
Los Angeles, California
Neighbourhood/Region: Mt. Washington, Los Angeles
Distance from city centre: 7.9 km
Square footage: 1796 sq. ft.
Number of bedrooms: 3
Asking price: $825,000 USD
Images: Zillow
San Diego, California
Neighbourhood/Region: Point Loma Heights, San Diego
Distance from city centre: 10.1 km
Square footage: 1886 sq. ft.
Number of bedrooms: 4
Asking price: $885,000 USD
Images: Zillow
Calgary, Alberta
Neighbourhood/Region: Bankview, Calgary
Distance from city centre: 3.5 km
Square footage: 2323 sq. ft.
Number of bedrooms: 3
Asking price: $1,099,000
Images: Realtor.ca
Edmonton, Alberta
Neighbourhood/Region: Glenora, Edmonton
Distance from city centre: 4.4 km
Square footage: 198.2 sq. m.
Number of bedrooms: 4
Asking price: $1,099,000
Images: Realtor.ca
Phoenix, Arizona
Neighbourhood/Region: North Mountain, Pheonix
Distance from city centre: 13.9 km
Square footage: 4645 sq. ft.
Number of bedrooms: 4
Asking price: $899,000 USD
Images: Zillow
Denver, Colorado
Neighbourhood/Region: University Park, Denver
Distance from city centre: 9.2 km
Square footage: 4494 sq. ft.
Number of bedrooms: 4
Asking price: $899,900 USD
Images: Sotheby’s Realty
San Antonio, Texas
Neighbourhood/Region: Olmos Park, San Antonio
Distance from city centre: 7.1 km
Square footage: 2900 sq. ft.
Number of bedrooms: 3
Asking price: $849,000 USD
Images: Zillow
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Neighbourhood/Region: Waverley West, Winnipeg
Distance from city centre: 12.7 km
Square footage: 3124 sq. ft.
Number of bedrooms: 6
Asking price: $990,000
Images: Realtor.ca
Dallas, Texas
Neighbourhood/Region: White Rock Lake, Dallas
Distance from city centre: 8.8 km
Square footage: 4171 sq. ft.
Number of bedrooms: 5
Asking price: $819,900 USD
Images: Zillow
Houston, Texas
Neighbourhood/Region: Greater Heights, Houston
Distance from city centre: 4.6 km
Square footage: 3116 sq. ft.
Number of bedrooms: 3
Asking price: $889,000 USD
Images: Sotheby’s Realty
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Neighbourhood/Region: Southwest Minneapolis
Distance from city centre: 8.7 km
Square footage: 4021 sq. ft. lot
Number of bedrooms: 4
Asking price: $859,900 USD
Images: Sotheby’s Realty
Chicago, Illinois
Neighbourhood/Region: Logan Square, Chicago
Distance from city centre: 9.8 km
Square footage: 3219 sq. ft. lot
Number of bedrooms: 4
Asking price: $874,900 USD
Images: Zillow
Jacksonville, Florida
Neighbourhood/Region: Mill Cove, Jacksonville
Distance from city centre: 13.2 km
Square footage: 4331 sq. ft.
Number of bedrooms: 5
Asking price: $815,000 USD
Images: Zillow
Toronto, Ontario
Neighbourhood/Region: Dufferin Grove, Toronto
Distance from city centre: 4.8 km
Square footage: 2000 sq. ft.
Number of bedrooms: 3
Asking price: $1,099,000
Images: Sotheby’s Canada
Ottawa, Ontario
Neighbourhood/Region: Glebe, Ottawa
Distance from city centre: 2.4 km
Square footage: unknown
Number of bedrooms: 6
Asking price: $985,00
Images: Realtor.ca
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Neighbourhood/Region: Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia
Distance from city centre: 18 km
Square footage: 4438 sq. ft.
Number of bedrooms: 7
Asking price: $925,000 USD
Images: Zillow
New York City, New York
Neighbourhood/Region: Brooklyn, New York
Distance from city centre: 10.6 km
Square footage: 1520 sq. ft.
Number of bedrooms: 3
Asking price: $890,000 USD
Image: Zillow
(no interior photo available)
Montreal, Quebec
Neighbourhood/Region: Côte-des-Neiges, Montreal
Distance from city centre: 7.4 km
Square footage: unknown
Number of bedrooms: 4
Asking price: $949,000
Photos: Profusion Realty
Portland, Maine
Neighbourhood/Region: Peaks Island, Portland
Distance from city centre: 6.1 km
Square footage: 3201 sq. ft.
Number of bedrooms: 4
Asking price: $800,000 USD
Images: Realtor.com
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Neighbourhood/Region: Southend, Halifax
Distance from city centre: 2.9 km
Square footage: 4485 sq. ft.
Number of bedrooms: 5
Asking price: $995,000
Waimea, Hawaii
Neighbourhood/Region: Waimea, Island of Kauai
Square footage: 3809 sq. ft.
Number of bedrooms: 4
Asking price: $899,000 USD
Images: Sotheby’s Realty
Anchorage, Alaska
Neighbourhood/Region: Sand Lake, Anchorage
Distance from city centre: 11.5 km
Square footage: 2153 sq. ft.
Number of bedrooms: 3
Asking price: $850,000 USD
Images: Zillow
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