Where to buy Greater Vancouver Regional District real estate in 2017

Overview

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C I T Y D E T A I L S

There are two camps firmly entrenched on the banks of the Lower Mainland. One group argues that from an historical perspective, real estate always goes up. These people are convinced this trend will continue, despite signs of froth from record-breaking sales over the last decade. Another camp is convinced that the B.C. marketplace is being propped up by nothing but pure speculation. They figure a crash is imminent.

Meanwhile, anyone buying or selling is caught in the middle. While 2016 saw some historically high sale prices across the Lower Mainland, it was also the year that some of the market’s hot air started to slowly leak out.
Various real estate boards reported fewer listings and, subsequently, a drop in sales. Worse: certain areas in Lotusland began to see price drops, some areas (when you factor in all types of real estate like condos and townhomes) have fallen as much as 20%. Yet, the market keeps going. Buyer demand combined with low inventory keeps the pressure on sale prices, while large and small developers scramble to buy anything on solid ground.

Photo gallery: Top 25 Central Vancouver neighbourhoods »

What’s a buyer to do? The best way is to buy based on solid fundamentals. In real estate this means finding good-value neighbourhoods that offer a good chance of continued momentum in the future. That’s not easy in a hot market, but this year’s Where to Buy Vancouver list shows it is possible.

Two areas that have become red-hot are West and North Vancouver. “Many West Vancouver homeowners decided to cash out in this hot market and move just a little east to the North Shore,” explains Garrett Wong, a Realtor with Re/Max Metro. But this also means that potential buyers can now find deals in some of Vancouver’s most expensive neighbourhoods—as long as you don’t mind an average home price that creeps up to the $2.8 million mark.

Great schools, amazing amenities and views that are worth buying, that’s what keeps buyers interested in West and North Vancouver. For those who don’t want to negotiate bridge traffic, Port Moody’s continued investment in development—and the completion of its Skytrain stop—has turned this area into a high-value neighbourhood that offers a balance between lifestyle, commuter distance, and house size.

Just keep in mind that in the Lower Mainland, value isn’t a synonym for cheap.

Scroll down to see the top 25 neighbourhoods across all of the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) ranked. Also find separate rankings based on Central Vancouver, North Shore and South Fraser neighbourhoods.

Greater Vancouver Regional District at a glance…

	City	Top 25
Average Neighbourhood Price	$1,879,245	$1,650,220
Median	$1,512,347	$1,509,186
Max	$6,842,046	$3,275,435
Min	$530,779	$783,082
Below $500K	0%	0%
Average 1-year return	30.1%	44.2%
Average 3-year return	67.2%	78.2%
Average 5-year return	70.3%	88.8%
Realtor grade (out of 5)	★★★½	★★★½

Where to buy Vancouver real estate

Central Vancouver’s top neighbourhoods North Shore’s top neighbourhoods South Fraser’s top neighbourhoods

Top 25 GVRD neighbourhoods ranked

Click here to see the full ranking of all GVRD neighbourhoods

Rank	Neighbourhood	Area	Average price	Average price vs. area	Average price vs. metro district	Average price vs. greater city area	1-year price change	3-year price change	5-year price change	Realtor grade
1	Cedardale	West Vancouver	$2,794,129	77.2%	162.4%	188.2%	49.6%	86.1%	98.3%	★★★★
2	Port Moody Centre	Port Moody	$1,125,605	78.6%	65.4%	75.8%	25.6%	73.2%	87.7%	★★★★
3	Lower Lonsdale	North Vancouver	$1,556,000	88.4%	90.4%	104.8%	52.4%	76.3%	109.1%	★★★★
4	Pemberton NV	North Vancouver	$1,549,963	88.0%	90.1%	104.4%	52.2%	89.3%	116.2%	★★★½
5	Glenmore	West Vancouver	$2,648,641	73.2%	153.9%	178.4%	69.1%	80.2%	109.4%	★★★½
6	Glenayre	Port Moody	$1,164,747	81.4%	67.7%	78.4%	38.1%	71.5%	77.6%	★★★★
7	River Springs	Coquitlam	$797,165	65.5%	46.3%	53.7%	36.1%	83.4%	78.1%	★★★
8	Cypress Park Estates	West Vancouver	$3,275,435	90.5%	190.3%	220.6%	42.5%	109.2%	109.5%	★★★★
9	Edmonds BE	Burnaby	$1,351,277	80.5%	78.5%	91.0%	28.0%	75.7%	93.0%	★★★½
10	Meadow Brook	Coquitlam	$783,082	64.4%	45.5%	52.7%	33.9%	62.5%	89.5%	★★★
11	Cape Horn	Coquitlam	$1,062,888	87.4%	61.8%	71.6%	43.5%	78.0%	95.9%	★★★
12	Hastings	Vancouver East	$1,497,192	94.6%	87.0%	100.8%	43.0%	87.2%	98.4%	★★★½
13	Horseshoe Bay WV	West Vancouver	$1,883,800	52.1%	109.5%	126.9%	47.9%	94.7%	64.2%	★★★★
14	Burke Mountain	Coquitlam	$1,474,691	52.8%	85.7%	99.3%	30.7%	67.5%	64.3%	★★★★
15	Norgate	North Vancouver	$1,399,372	79.5%	81.3%	94.2%	55.4%	82.0%	92.8%	★★★
16	Eagle Harbour	West Vancouver	$2,263,393	62.6%	131.5%	152.4%	55.3%	61.6%	76.8%	★★★★
17	Sapperton	New Westminster	$1,009,519	90.8%	58.7%	68.0%	28.9%	63.5%	89.8%	★★★★
18	Ambleside	West Vancouver	$3,096,229	85.6%	179.9%	208.5%	150.3%	63.8%	78.5%	★★★★
19	Mountain Meadows	Port Moody	$1,126,255	78.7%	65.4%	75.9%	39.6%	61.8%	70.8%	★★★½
20	Steveston Village	Richmond	$1,443,206	80.6%	83.9%	97.2%	26.4%	66.3%	65.7%	★★★★½
21	Queensbury	North Vancouver	$1,514,958	86.1%	88.0%	102.0%	20.6%	88.2%	94.2%	★★★½
22	Renfrew VE	Vancouver East	$1,509,186	95.4%	87.7%	101.6%	35.8%	80.1%	96.6%	★★★½
23	Mount Pleasant VE	Vancouver East	$1,546,913	97.8%	89.9%	104.2%	28.3%	71.3%	85.1%	★★★★½
24	Windsor Park NV	North Vancouver	$1,588,665	90.2%	92.3%	107.0%	38.9%	97.9%	88.7%	★★★
25	Westwind	Richmond	$1,793,209	100.1%	104.2%	120.8%	33.6%	82.9%	88.6%	★★★★