When you think of luxury homes you think of style. You see sleek modern minimalism or old-school stone facades. You might picture three-car garages, hedgerows, or a heated swimming pool. But luxury is more than what you see. Fancy things are all markers of luxury without a doubt, and you can find homes for sale in Vancouver that incorporate just about every symbol of luxury ever imagined, but don’t mistake the symptoms of luxury for the real thing.
What is Luxury?
Luxury is more than an object or a style, it is a price point relative to the area you’re in. Luxury housing, in the most basic sense of the term, is whatever lies within the upper 2% of the housing market of any given area. In a market like Vancouver, that upper 2% is going to mainly feature mansions fit to house Bruce Wayne or Jay Gatsby. But if you looked at a smaller city or suburb, you’d be surprised what houses fit in that upper 2% luxury category.
Luxury is relative. You can spend millions of dollars in Vancouver and not get into the realm of luxury real estate. In Vancouver, the luxury market for single family houses starts out at the $4,000,000 mark and goes up from there. While in Toronto’s top luxury neighbourhoods, a detached house’s median price is $4,200,000. For condos you have more flexibility, especially in terms of location. You can find luxury condos in the centre of downtown Vancouver as well as the outer suburbs, and most luxury condos start around the 3 million range.
Where Is Luxury Real Estate in Vancouver?
Now that we have the parameters of luxury set, let’s take a look at some of the best areas in Vancouver to find the most awe-inspiring properties.
Downtown Vancouver
Downtown Vancouver is a nexus of skyscrapers that keeps the heart racing every day of the year. Here you’ll find the best luxury condos in Vancouver, without a question. What Downtown lacks in parkscape it makes up for with all the city amenities you could ever need only a five minute walk away.
The luxury condos here offer breathtaking views of the Vancouver cityscape as well as the picturesque bay and mountains beyond. If you want to live the high life in the soul of the city, a downtown luxury condo is your best bet to make that happen.
Altamont
Head across the harbour and you’ll find some of the best luxury real estate in the Vancouver area. West Vancouver is known for its quiet neighbourhoods, and the Altamont neighbourhood is known for its high-quality housing. The sky’s the limit here, with luxury homes going well beyond $10,000,000.
Many houses here sit on close to an acre of land, with tennis courts and pools in the backyards, and plenty of trees and hedgerows for privacy. Altamont is the quintessential luxury neighbourhood for the Vancouver area and a great place for those looking to be far enough from the hustle and bustle of the city to have peace of mind whenever they wish.
Point Grey
Point Grey offers a little bit more diversity in terms of luxury home architecture. Here along the coast of English Bay, you’ll find lovely seaside single family homes in the Point Grey area. These homes generally have a more modern-air to them and offer residents quick access to downtown while still having the peace and quiet of a suburb to themselves. Point Grey is also great for those with young families that want a slower-paced life while still having a wide variety of great schools in the area to choose from.
Caulfield
Let’s head back over the harbour to West Vancouver and revisit another one of the luxury neighbourhoods there. Caulfield sits on a little hilly promontory that juts out into Burrard Inlet. The luxury homes here lie along curving tree-lined roads, some so infrequently travelled that they’re not even lined. Caulfield likes an outpost of Vancouver, a place better to lose yourself in nature rather than in a city. The luxury homes here can list well past $10,000,000 and have magnificent views of the water and the distant skyscrapers of downtown Vancouver.
Kitsilano
Imagine white sand beaches in Vancouver and you might think you’re just daydreaming, but believe it or not, there is a luxury neighbourhood in the area that has just that. The Kitsilano neighbourhood makes up a huge chunk of Vancouver and has both a coastline and convenient urban amenities. Here you can find seaside luxury real estate, as well as the typical townhome/condo lifestyle that Vancouver is becoming famous for. Kitsilano offers luxury real estate that fits snugly between the best of both worlds.
Wanna move to Canada’s largest metropolitan instead? Check out what is luxury real estate in Toronto to discover the prime locations and average listing price in Ontario’s capital.
