Where are the least expensive houses for sale in the Lower Mainland?

Among 24 communities from Chilliwack in the east, south to White Rock, north to Whistler, prices are at record highs with nothing that can be called 'affordable'

For anyone looking for a single family home in the Lower Mainland, Chilliwack is the least expensive, but that doesn't mean houses are affordable anywhere.

That average selling price of $893,000 in December 2024 for a detached house in the Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board region might be shocking to anyone who has lived in the area for a decade* or more, but it's a bargain compared to any other community from Abbotsford to Whistler and everything in between.

(*The average price of a single family home sold in Chilliwack in December 2014 was $353,025.)

In fact, Chilliwack is the only one among two dozen municipalities compared here that isn't selling average houses for seven figures. At the other end of the scale is, as always, West Vancouver with an average detached house selling price of $3.5 million in December 2024.

If you want more, you can always find something super-bougie in West Vancouver well beyond that meagre $3.5-million price point. As of this writing, the most expensive listing is 3330 Radcliffe Ave. in the West Bay neighbourhood on sale for $58.8 million. With 200 feet of shoreline, designed by architect Russell Hollingsworth, this 10,000-square-foot house is incredible but only has parking for four vehicles. What is the billionaire car collector to do?

Back to reality, buyers from all parts west are lapping up Chilliwack houses as sales numbers in the detached category last month were up 17.6 per cent year over year. Townhouse sales remained stagnant and apartment sales were down 20 per cent.

So how does Chilliwack single family home market compare to elsewhere in the Lower Mainland? Take a look.

Approximate* average prices of single-family homes sold in December 2024 in the Lower Mainland markets east to Chilliwack, west to Bowen Island, south to White Rock, north to Whistler:

1. West Vancouver • $3,308,000
2. Vancouver • $2,615,000
3. Whistler • $2,399,000
4. North Vancouver • $2,131,000
5. Richmond • $2,141,000
6. Burnaby • $2,108,000
7. Port Moody • $2,096,000
8. White Rock/South Surrey • $1,930,000
9. Coquitlam • $1,773,000
10. Langley • $1,734,000
11. Surrey • $1,676,000
12. Tsawwassen • $1,595,000
13. New Westminster • $1,580,000
14. Squamish • $1,519,000
15. Delta North • $1,507,000
16. Bowen Island • $1,430,000
17. Ladner • $1,396,000
18. Port Coquitlam • $1,380,000
19. Pitt Meadows • $1,301,000
20. Maple Ridge • $1,287,000
21. Abbotsford • $1,255,746
22. Mission • $1,044,296
23. Sunshine Coast • $897,000
24. Chilliwack • $893,000

(* These are the average prices sold in December 2024 for municipalities in the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board and the Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board areas. The Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board does not provide averages so these are approximates based on "benchmark" selling prices, which is defined as a "typical" home and is usually very close to the actual average.).

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Paul J. Henderson
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