Housing Affordability in Vancouver

Aditya Chinchure/Unsplash

Vancouver is widely considered one of the nicest cities to live in. It has views of the mountains, is not far away from the ocean, and has an abundance of wilderness to explore. But with these luxuries come high prices in living accommodations, with the present average house in Greater Vancouver costing $1.8 million, approximately 10 per cent more than in 2020.

With the pandemic, Vancouverites have observed one of the most unu- sual buying patterns in decades. The amount of buyers has doubled since 2020 and tripled since 2018. There is a shortage: the number of houses on the market is the lowest in years.

Justin Leigh, a local realtor, told The Nest that “prices in Vancouver will continue to rise as long as the demand for housing is higher than the available supply.”

The average household income in BC is $64,000. With skyrocketing house prices, many families are mov- ing to the suburbs, such as Burnaby, Langley, Surrey, and Abbotsford. As businesses start moving online and many people now work from home, it has not been easier to move away from the city. This is causing the prices to rise, not just in Vancouver, but everywhere. Burnaby’s house prices are the highest to date at 5 per cent more than last year.

“As housing prices continue to rise in Vancouver, people that live in the city are looking for more affordable housing options in the surrounding suburbs as well as areas farther out such as the Fraser Valley and Vancouver Island. Increased demand in these areas puts additional pressure on the housing supply in these areas and drives prices up in these areas as well,” says Justin Leigh. If prices keep rising in Vancouver and the suburbs, families will no longer be able to afford comfortable housing outside the greater metropolitan area.

Mayor Kennedy Stewart has now announced a new plan to create more affordable housing to meet the growing demand for homes. The plan includes building more detached houses on the same lot and regulating prices. “Making Home is a new plan allowing thousands of young middle-class and new Canadian families to buy their first home, and includes allowing up to six ground-oriented units to be built on a single lot,” stated Stewart.

With carbon emissions and climate change being a great concern, the city has attempted to implement an overnight parking permit to reduce the amount of people buying new gas cars. The price varies based on the model and year of the car, but the premise is, if you leave your car parked on the side of the road overnight, you would need to purchase a permit. This is still being processed through legislation. Because middle class families are becoming less financially able to live in the city, Vancouver is growing its already notorious reputation for having high housing prices.