How much house can I afford in Vancouver?

What's different about buying in Vancouver

Vancouver buyers deal with BC's property transfer tax, the same as anywhere in the province, and a property tax rate that is low as a share of value. Those two facts work in opposite directions:

• Property transfer tax (PTT) is 1% on the first $200,000, 2% to $2,000,000, 3% above that, and a further 2% on residential value above $3,000,000. First-time buyers' relief ends at $860,000.
• Property tax for 2026 is $3.36394 per $1,000 of assessed value, about 0.336%. That leaves more of your GDS room for the mortgage payment than our generic 0.75% example rate would.

BC charges no sales tax on the CMHC premium. The national lending rules apply: GDS up to 39%, TDS up to 44%, at the stress-test rate. Insured mortgages are only available below $1,500,000; at that price or above you need 20% down.

Property transfer tax and the exemptions

On an $800,000 purchase the PTT is $14,000. A first-time buyer who qualifies for the first time home buyers' exemption pays $6,000, because the tax on the first $500,000 is waived. Buyers of a newly built home worth up to $1,100,000 can be fully exempt. At a few example prices:

The first-time exemption is full up to $835,000 and shrinks in a straight line to zero at $860,000. At $850,000 it is already down to $3,200. The newly built exemption is full up to $1,100,000 and partial up to $1,150,000; between those values your lawyer calculates the amount. At $1,200,000 neither exemption applies. Both exemptions have eligibility conditions; check the BC government pages before you rely on one. On a new home, a first-time buyer may also qualify for the federal first-time GST rebate of up to $50,000, in full on homes up to $1,000,000.

Vancouver's 2026 property tax rate

The City publishes its residential (Class 1) rate in dollars per $1,000 of assessed value. For 2026:

The 2025 total was $3.11827, so the rate rose about 7.9% for 2026. Here is what that means at a few example assessed values:

Your bill is based on BC Assessment's value for the property, which may differ from your purchase price.

A Vancouver affordability example

A first-time buyer household earning $160,000, with a $110,000 down payment (closing costs come on top), $500 a month of other debts and an example rate of 4.12% over 25 years, using Vancouver's 2026 tax rate and $100 a month for heat. The lender maximum is about $839,300 (GDS), with $8,162 of PTT at that price.

Three comparisons show what moves the number. With a generic 0.75% property tax instead of Vancouver's rate, the same household's maximum would be about $799,600, so the lower rate is worth $39,700 of buying power here. A condo with $550 a month in fees (half counts in GDS) brings the maximum down to $799,800. A 30-year insured amortization, open to first-time buyers, raises it to $889,600.

Cash to close is the down payment, the PTT and our planning estimates of $1,800 for legal fees, $350 for title insurance and $550 for an inspection. Once a maximum price passes $860,000, the first-time exemption no longer helps, so the PTT jumps.

The $1,500,000 line

Mortgage insurance is only available on homes priced below $1,500,000. Below that line the minimum down payment is 5% of the first $500,000 and 10% of the rest; at or above it, you need 20% of the whole price. The jump is large:

That is why the last row of the example table is limited by the down payment rather than income: with $320,000 saved, the household can't go past $1,600,000, the price at which $320,000 is 20%. With 20% or more down there is no CMHC premium to pay, but a buyer who is just short of 20% has to stay below the cap. If your budget is close to $1,500,000, work out both cases before you start viewing homes.

Next steps

1. Run your numbers in the affordability calculator with Vancouver selected; it uses the 2026 rate and applies the PTT exemptions.
2. Check the PTT and other costs in the closing costs calculator.
3. Read the British Columbia guide for the province-wide rules.