Vancouver presale townhomes, counted honestly.
Townhomes are the quietest corner of Vancouver’s presale market, small projects, thin marketing budgets, and almost no independent coverage. I track 45 of them inside the City of Vancouver. Here is what that inventory actually looks like, and what changes when you buy a townhome instead of a condo.
Presale, pre-sale, pre-construction — three spellings for the same thing: a home bought from the developer before it is built. Every Vancouver pre-sale townhome I track is counted below.
Every Vancouver presale townhome I’m tracking, right now.
A Vancouver presale townhome is a ground-oriented strata home bought from a developer before it is finished. I currently track 45 townhome projects in the City of Vancouver totalling 1,540 homes, of which 18 are actively selling and 6 are pre-construction. Projects are small, the median is 26 homes, the range 12 to 93, which is the single biggest practical difference from buying a presale condo.
What is actually out there
Across Metro Vancouver I track 153 townhome projects. 45 of them sit inside the City of Vancouver, roughly a third of all Vancouver presale projects I follow. Most cluster on the West Side arterials and around Oakridge, Cambie and Marpole, where the city’s rezoning work has made ground-oriented infill viable on lots that used to hold one house.
| Status | Projects |
|---|---|
| Actively selling | 18 |
| Pre-construction | 6 |
| Under construction | 4 |
| Completed, still selling inventory | 6 |
| Sold out | 4 |
That “completed, still selling” row matters more than it looks. A meaningful share of Vancouver townhome presales are now finished buildings with unsold homes in them. You can walk the actual unit, see the actual finish, and complete in weeks rather than years. If you have been told presale means waiting three years, that is no longer reliably true in this segment.
How a townhome presale differs from a condo presale
i. The project is small, so the comparables are thin
A 26-home project does not generate a resale market. In a 300-unit tower there is always a comparable sale to price against; in a 20-home townhome project there may be none for years. That cuts both ways: less downward pressure from panic sellers, but also far less evidence about what your home is worth if you need to move.
ii. Deposit structures run higher
Of the Vancouver townhome projects that publish a deposit structure, 15% is the most common total, followed by 20%, with 10% the exception. Condo presales more often start at 10%. At a $1.5M price a 20% structure is $300,000 staged out before completion, budget from the structure, not the headline.
iii. The price point can push you past the tax breaks
Ground-oriented homes on Vancouver’s West Side frequently price above $1.5 million. That is the exact line where the first-time buyer GST rebate goes to zero, and it is well past the Property Transfer Tax exemption thresholds. The tax arithmetic that makes a $700,000 condo work does not carry over, check where your specific project actually lands. I have set the thresholds out in full in the guide to GST and PTT on a BC presale.
iv. Construction is shorter and sunset risk is lower
Townhome projects are wood-frame and low-rise, so they build in roughly 18–30 months rather than the 3–5 years a concrete tower takes. Shorter builds mean materially less exposure to sunset clause risk and less time for your own circumstances to change before completion.
v. Assignment is harder
Small projects with no resale history are difficult to assign, and some developers restrict assignments more tightly in townhome contracts than in tower contracts. If your plan depends on selling before completion, read the assignment clause before you write the cheque, see how presale assignments work in BC.
What I do with this list
I have taken 20 presale launches to market since 2014 across six developers, which means I have sat on the sales side of the table for projects like these. I read townhome disclosure statements the same way I read tower ones: deposit schedule, sunset date, assignment terms, what the developer has actually delivered before, and what the strata fee per square foot implies about the building’s operating budget.
I am not paid by these developers to send you to them. If a project on this list is priced badly or built by someone with a poor completion record, I will tell you that.
Common questions
How many presale townhomes are there in Vancouver?
I track 45 townhome projects inside the City of Vancouver, totalling roughly 1,540 homes. 18 are actively selling and 6 are pre-construction. Across Metro Vancouver the number is 153 projects. These are projects I monitor independently, not a complete municipal record.
How much deposit do I need for a Vancouver presale townhome?
Typically 15% to 20% of the purchase price, staged over several instalments rather than paid at once. 15% is the most common published structure among Vancouver townhome projects, 20% the next most common, and 10% relatively rare. At a $1.5M price that is $225,000 to $300,000 before you complete.
Are presale townhomes cheaper than presale condos in Vancouver?
No: per home they are usually more expensive, because you are buying more floor area and ground access. Per square foot they can be competitive with new concrete condos. The more useful comparison is not condo versus townhome but townhome versus an older detached house or duplex half in the same neighbourhood.
Do I pay GST on a presale townhome?
Yes. New construction attracts 5% GST, and it is due at completion on top of your deposits and mortgage. The first-time home buyer GST rebate covers 100% of that GST on homes valued up to $1 million and phases out to nothing at $1.5 million, which many Vancouver townhomes exceed. See the full tax guide.
How long does a presale townhome take to complete?
Usually 18 to 30 months from sales launch, because townhome projects are wood-frame low-rise rather than concrete towers. Some Vancouver townhome projects are already complete and still selling unsold homes, in which case you can complete in weeks.
Can I assign a presale townhome contract before completion?
Sometimes, but it is harder than with a condo. Small projects have no resale comparables, which makes pricing an assignment difficult, and some townhome contracts restrict assignment more tightly. Assignment profits are reportable to the CRA. Check the assignment clause before you sign, not after.
Do I get the 7-day rescission period on a townhome presale?
Yes. BC’s statutory rescission period applies to presale contracts regardless of the form of housing. You have seven days after receiving the disclosure statement and signing to cancel without penalty. See the rescission period guide.
Which Vancouver neighbourhoods have the most presale townhomes?
The West Side corridors, Cambie, Oakridge, Marpole and the arterials around West 41st through West 57th, carry the majority, because city rezoning made ground-oriented infill viable there. East Vancouver has a smaller but growing cluster around Renfrew and Hastings-Sunrise.
Inventory figures verified 5 August 2026 against the projects I track. Numbers move: ask me for the current list.
Outside the city, I track townhomes the same way on separate pages for Burnaby presale townhomes, Surrey presale townhomes and Coquitlam presale townhomes, each with live counts and price per square foot.