Vancouver is well known as a city for the rich. It was ranked number 2, just behind Hong Kong, as the most expensive city in the world to live in. Home prices and the cost of living combine to make for one very expensive place to live. How expensive? Consider the fact that the average cost of a "dream home" in Vancouver is $1.2 million for a detached home. That is a ridiculous amount that cannot be ignored.
So what is behind this increase? Vancouver is a beautiful city that sits right between the beautiful mountain range and the fertile Pacific Ocean. Thanks to this excellent location, the city grew. Today, it is home to more than 650,000 people who live within 44 square miles of each other. This makes it nearly impossible for people to build new homes, and thus Vancouver is home to thousands of condos and apartment complexes. Of course, these apartments themselves average around 1,000 square feet if one is lucky. The city has also become a real estate and business mecca and as such has created jobs that cannot be found in other cities.
Families across Vancouver have downsized their homes just to pay the bills. In Vancouver's West Side, for example, families can expect to pay $2.4 million for a two-bedroom detached home, a cost that has skyrocketed over the past 10 years, causing many couples to rent rather than invest in the market. Of course, apartment rentals aren't that much cheaper, averaging around $1,500 a month for a two-bedroom location. But this is what many couples raising a child have to resort to in order to live comfortably in Canada's most expensive city.
Even households with two six-figure incomes can expect to live on the lower end of the spectrum in Vancouver. The real estate market alone is $1.2 million for a detached house. Of course, this does not include the costs of building and taking out the loan.
While rising home prices in Vancouver are good for home owners and sellers, they aren't necessarily great for families looking to eventually settle in the city. Canada's economy continues to grow positively, but the cost of buying a standard home in Vancouver is really leaving young families looking for a break in the cold. But for those who choose to raise their family in Vancouver, no cost is too great
