Vancouver presale condos, read clearly.
Vancouver’s presale market is where the best deals and the worst mistakes in BC real estate happen, often in the same building. I track every active presale condo and townhome development in the City of Vancouver and read them the way an analyst would: deposit structure, price against resale comps, developer completion history, assignment terms. No brochure talk.
Presale, pre-sale, pre-construction — three spellings, one thing: a home bought from the developer before it is built. Every Vancouver pre-sale condo and townhome I track is on this page.
Four zones, four different markets.
Downtown & West End
Curv, The Butterfly, Fifteen Fifteen, 1289 Nicola, Landmark on Robson, luxury towers with the highest price per square foot in BC and the strongest assignment liquidity. This is where architecture commands a premium; the question is whether the premium survives completion.
Westside: Kitsilano, Dunbar, Oakridge & the Cambie Corridor
The Arbutus, Legacy on Dunbar, Dunbar at 39th, Oku, Ortus, Gryphon Nova and the Oakridge and Cambie Gardens master plans, boutique low-rise product with land-value protection, plus the largest supply pipeline on the Westside in decades along Cambie.
East Vancouver: Renfrew, Fraser, Mount Pleasant
Rhodes, Frank, Tesoro, Renfrew 13, the value zone. SkyTrain access at meaningfully lower price per square foot than the Westside, and where first-time buyer math most often actually works.
South Vancouver: Marine Gateway & River District
Master-planned, family-oriented, with the longest completion timelines. I sold the first River District towers for Wesgroup starting in 2014. That story is here.
What’s coming next matters as much as what’s selling now. My Vancouver rezoning and development tracker follows every major application through council, including how many of the homes will actually be for sale.
Every Vancouver presale I’m tracking, right now.
What a Vancouver presale actually costs.
Take a $900,000 one-bedroom. The deposit is typically 10–20%, $90,000 to $180,000, but staged: roughly $10,000–$25,000 during the seven-day rescission period, then instalments over 6–18 months. At completion you add 5% GST (first-time buyers can qualify for a federal rebate on new homes under $1M, phasing out to $1.5M), Property Transfer Tax (with a newly-built-home exemption that covers many presales), plus legal and adjustment costs. The interaction of those rebates is where buyers most often mis-budget, run your exact numbers in the GST & PTT calculator.
When presale wins, and when it doesn’t.
Presale wins on deposit leverage (18 months to complete your down payment), the new-build GST rebate, and 2-5-10 warranty coverage. It loses when you pay tomorrow’s price today in a flat market, or when completion risk isn’t priced in. The honest answer is project-specific: early-phase pricing in the right building beats resale; late-phase pricing in the wrong one doesn’t. That analysis is exactly what a presale specialist is for.
The process, briefly.
Register for a launch, secure an allocation, sign the contract of purchase and sale, and use the legally mandated seven-day rescission period to review the disclosure statement with your advisor. You can cancel for any reason and get every dollar back. Then deposits stage over months, and completion lands years later. The full walkthrough, deposits, assignments, completion risk, is in the complete BC presale guide.
Floor plans, price lists and deposit structures.
Three things people look for before they look for an agent — and none of them are public documents.
i. Floor plans
Developers release floor plans to their agent network before the public site goes live, and the set changes between phases. I request the current plans for any project on this page, including the ones that never reach the brochure — usually the odd-shaped units that are worth a second look.
ii. Price lists
A published “starting from” figure is the cheapest home in the building, usually facing the wrong way. The real price list is a spreadsheet with every unit, exposure and floor premium on it. I ask for that, then read it against resale comparables before you commit to anything.
iii. Deposit structures
Vancouver presale deposits typically run 10–20% of the purchase price, staged over roughly 12 to 24 months. The schedule matters more than the headline percentage: two payments of 10% eighteen months apart is a very different commitment from 5% every six months.
Whether you are comparing new condos along the Cambie Corridor or a single pre-sale tower downtown, ask for all three before you sign.
Vancouver presale FAQ.
How much deposit do I need for a Vancouver presale?
Typically 10–20% of the purchase price, paid in stages over 6–18 months rather than up front. A $900,000 condo usually means $90,000–$180,000 total, starting with roughly $10,000–$25,000 at contract signing during the 7-day rescission period.
Do I pay GST on a presale condo in Vancouver?
Yes: 5% at completion. First-time buyers can qualify for a federal GST rebate on new homes under $1M (phasing out to $1.5M). Calculate your exact GST and PTT here.
Can I sell my presale before completion?
Usually, via assignment, but most Vancouver developers charge an assignment fee and require consent, and assignments are now reported directly to the CRA. How assignments work.
What is the rescission period for BC presales?
Seven days, mandated by REDMA. You can cancel for any reason and get your deposit back in full. It is the most important week of the purchase, use it to review the disclosure statement properly.
Are presales cheaper than resale in Vancouver?
Not automatically. Early-phase pricing in a rising market can be below completion value; late-phase pricing in a flat market often is not. The answer is project-specific: which is exactly the analysis worth doing before you sign.
When do current Vancouver presales complete?
Active projects complete between 2026 and 2030. Highrises typically run 3–4 years from sales launch; woodframe and townhome projects 18–30 months.
Does it cost anything to use a realtor for a presale?
No: the developer pays the buyer’s agent commission, and the price is identical either way. Going direct to the sales centre just means no one at the table works for you.
Which developers have the best track record?
Depends what you are buying: concrete highrise, woodframe, or master-planned community. I sold launches for six Metro Vancouver developers before representing buyers; the full track record is here and I am candid about the differences.