Uber-Expensive Vancouver Eclipsed by World’s Much Hotter Real Estate Markets

Superstar city and uber-expensive business hub, Vancouver has Canadians railing against its insane home prices and lack of affordable housing options. Some residents would even welcome a market crash, or any type of correction.

Despite tightened lending practices and the government’s interventions to put a break on the market’s bull run, prices in the luxury real estate market have remained remarkably resilient. The threshold for luxury condos usually hovers around $1,000,000; but in Vancouver, it’s more than double that: $2,500,000. Canada’s most expensive city is, even in the luxury sector, in a league of its own.

Vancouver Is a Bargain Compared to World’s Booming Hubs

But what happens if we zoom out and compare the luxury condo market in Vancouver to other red-hot urban centres around the world? To answer this question, we looked at condos with over-the-top amenities, fantastic finishes, and sprawling living space. However, we also wanted to include the advantage of nearby work and entertainment opportunities, so we stuck close to the city centre.

Using these search criteria, we compared the “average” luxury condo in Vancouver (2,000 sqft, or approximately 185 sqm) with similarly-sized condos in some of the world’s most high-priced housing markets. The results show that Vancouver might be expensive, but only for Vancouverites. The other cities in our analysis completely eclipsed Canada’s most exorbitant market.

Almost anywhere in the world, luxury markets play by different rules. When looking at the other leading global centres, Vancouver becomes much more appealing. However, this might change in the not so distant future, as demand for luxury homes could increase. According to a report from Credit Suisse, the number of millionaires in Canada is expected to rise by 54%, reaching two million people by the end of 2023. Depending on how many of them will want to make Vancouver their home, the city’s luxury market might become even hotter.

Vancouver’s high-end home seekers need to dish out $2,660,000 for a condo under 2,000 square feet, but check out the chart and list below to discover the cities where the stratospheric home prices make Vancouver look like homebuyers’ heaven:

10. Zürich

$4,103,651 for a 3.5-room on the 22nd floor of the Mobimo Tower

Size: 2,002 square feet (186 square metres)

9. Geneva

$4,604,958 for a 6-room apartment in Vielle-Ville

Size: 1,873 square feet (174 square metres)

8. Tokyo

$4,888,800 for a 4-room apartment in Minato-ku

Size: 1,733 square feet (161 square metres)

7. Paris

$5,144,934 for a 3-bedroom apartment on Rue Saint-Cloud

Size: 2,034 square feet (189 square metres)

6. San Francisco

$5,817,516 for a 2-bedroom apartment on Sacramento Street

Size: 1,961 square feet (182 square metres)

5. New York

$6,680,563 for a 3-bedroom apartment on Lexington Avenue

Size: 1,954 square feet (182 square metres)

4. Singapore

$7,894,060 for a 3-bedroom condo on Orchard Boulevard

Size: 2,067 square feet (192 square metres)

3. London

$8,306,185 for a 3-bedroom apartment on Greycoat Street

Size: 2,070 square feet (192 square metres)

2. Hong Kong

$13,635,200 for a 3-bedroom apartment on Kennedy Road

Size: 2,007 square feet (186 square metres)

1. Monaco

$14,897,938 for a 3-bedroom apartment in the District of Fontvieille

Size: 1,991 square feet (185 square metres)

In a 2018 report by UBS Group AG, the financial services company revealed that Hong Kong, Toronto, Munich, and Vancouver are the cities most at-risk for property bubbles. So while Vancouver is certainly not the most expensive housing market globally, it does keep a great number of prospective homebuyers out of the market and might benefit from some course correction.

Methodology

• For the purpose of this analysis, we took into consideration the mid-size luxury condo in Vancouver, after analyzing new luxury condos on the Point2 Homes site and various other MLS’s.
• We searched for luxury condos of a similar size in the world’s most expensive cities, as close to the city centre as possible. We compared similarly-sized condos in ten hot real estate markets and ranked them according to their price.
• We also looked at the average price per square metre near the cities’ downtown areas for more context.
• The condo prices per square metre near the city centre were taken from Numbeo‘s database.