This guide sets a multiplex home next to each alternative. Prices come from Greater Vancouver REALTORS' MLS® Home Price Index for September 2026, the most recent report at the time of writing. GVR publishes benchmarks for detached homes, townhouses and apartments. It publishes none for multiplex homes, and its own note under the tables says its townhouse figures do not include duplexes, so no number on these pages is a multiplex price.
Where a rule decides the difference, such as a strata law, a tax exemption or a warranty, we name the law or the agency and link to it.
The short version
- In September 2026, GVR's Greater Vancouver benchmarks were $1,784,700 for a detached house, $1,016,700 for a townhouse and $682,500 for an apartment. There is no multiplex benchmark.
- A multiplex strata of 4 or fewer homes puts every owner on council and needs no depreciation report. A strata of 5 or more homes has a council of 3 to 7 and needs a depreciation report every 5 years.
- The federal minimum down payment is 5% of the first $500,000 and 10% of the rest up to $1.5 million, and 20% at $1.5 million or more. On the townhouse benchmark that is $76,670; on the detached benchmark it is $356,940.
- A brand new home comes with BC's 2-5-10 home warranty and may qualify for the first-time buyers' GST rebate and the newly built home transfer tax exemption. A home sold by its owner after living in it is generally exempt from GST.
- BC's rent increase limit is 2.3% for 2026 and 2.2% for 2027, which matters if you are weighing buying against renting.
The home types side by side
A multiplex home is one of 2 to 4 homes, sometimes more, in a building on what is usually a regular residential street: one half of a duplex, or one home in a triplex or fourplex. Each home normally has its own front door and its own title, and the owners share a small strata. In our view, it sits between a townhouse and a detached house in how it feels to live in.
A townhouse is one of a row of attached homes, often in a complex with a shared driveway and garden, run by a strata that can be small or large. An apartment is a home in a building with a shared entrance, halls and lifts. A detached house stands on its own lot with no strata at all.
The table puts the published numbers and the main rules together. The benchmark prices are GVR's September 2026 figures for Greater Vancouver. They describe a typical home in each category and say nothing about any one home, and GVR describes them as estimated sale prices of a benchmark property.
| Multiplex home | Townhouse | Apartment | Detached house | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GVR benchmark price | None published | $1,016,700 | $682,500 | $1,784,700 |
| Change over 1 year | None published | down 4.7% | down 6.2% | down 7.3% |
| Minimum down payment on the benchmark | Depends on the price | $76,670 | $43,250 | $356,940 |
| Strata | Yes, usually 2 to 4 homes | Yes, any size | Yes, often large | No |
| Who repairs the outside | The strata | The strata | The strata | You |
| Council | Every owner, if under 4 homes | Elected, if 4 or more | Elected | None |
Benchmarks: Greater Vancouver REALTORS, MLS® HPI, September 2026; GVR's townhouse figures exclude duplexes. Down payments use the federal minimum rule published by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada.
What a multiplex home asks of you, and what it gives
Compared with an apartment, a multiplex home usually gives you a door to the street, more rooms on more floors, and some outdoor space, often in a neighbourhood of houses. It asks more of you as an owner. In a strata of fewer than 4 homes, Standard Bylaw 9(2) puts every owner on the council, so you help run the building from the first meeting.
Compared with a detached house, it costs less to buy on the published benchmarks, and the strata insures and repairs the outside, so a new roof is shared. It asks you to agree with your neighbours on those repairs, and to follow bylaws you did not write.
Compared with a townhouse, it is closest in daily life. The differences are in the size of the strata, which changes the rules, and in where the buildings tend to sit. The townhouse page in this guide goes through them.
In our view, the deciding question for most families is how many people they want to agree with. A detached house means nobody. A duplex means one other owner. A fourplex means three. A townhouse complex or an apartment building means a council and often a manager. Each has a cost, and each suits a different kind of household.
Costs that follow each home type
Every home type carries the same three running costs in some form: insurance, repairs and tax. What changes is who pays each one, and how large a single bill can get.
Insurance comes first. In a strata home, whether a multiplex, townhouse or apartment, the strata insures the building and you insure your contents, your improvements, your liability and the strata's deductible. The Province's guidance for strata owners notes that a deductible can be charged to an owner who is responsible for a loss even without being at fault. In a detached house, you insure the whole house yourself, and there is no strata deductible.
Repairs come second. A strata saves for repairs in its contingency reserve fund and can raise a special levy by a 3/4 vote when a large repair is due. A detached owner saves alone. In a small multiplex strata, a special levy for a roof is shared by 2, 3 or 4 owners, so each share is larger than in a big complex, and in our view this is the cost multiplex buyers should plan for most carefully.
Tax comes third. Every home in BC pays property tax on its own assessed value, and the same transfer tax rules apply at purchase. The first time home buyers' program and the newly built home exemption depend on the price and the buyer, whatever the home type.
Mistakes buyers make when comparing
The most common mistake is reading the townhouse benchmark as a multiplex price. GVR's note under its tables says townhome properties do not include duplexes, and GVR publishes no category for triplex or fourplex homes. A multiplex home's price comes from the homes for sale near it, which is why we show live listings rather than an index.
The second is comparing strata fees on their own. A detached house has no strata fee, and the owner pays for insurance and every repair directly. A bare land strata has a low fee because the owner insures the home. A strata of 5 or more homes pays for a depreciation report every 5 years. Add the costs a fee does not cover before you compare.
The third is ignoring the title. Two duplexes at similar prices can be a strata and a shared title with no strata, with different rules on insurance, repairs and selling. Our guide to strata and freehold title explains the difference.
The fourth is comparing a brand new home with a lived-in one on price alone. A new home may carry GST, may qualify for rebates and exemptions a resale home does not, and comes with the 2-5-10 warranty. A resale home is generally exempt from GST. The new or lived-in page sets the numbers side by side.
How to use this guide
Each page takes one comparison and goes through it with the published figures and rules. Read the one that matches the choice in front of you, then look at real homes. A comparison on paper becomes clear quickly once you stand in two homes on the same weekend.
If you are deciding between types, tell us what you are weighing and where. We can show you a multiplex home and the alternative in the same area, and help you compare the papers that come with each.
- Choosing between a multiplex home and a townhouse: read the townhouse page.
- Stretching for a detached house: read the detached house page, and work out both down payments.
- Choosing between a new home and one someone has lived in: read the new or lived-in page.
- Choosing between a pre-sale and a home you can move into now: read the pre-sale or move-in ready page.
- Deciding whether to buy at all: read the renting or buying page.
- Choosing a city: read the city page, with GVR's area benchmarks.
Everything in this guide
Each page below answers one question in full. Read them in order or jump to the one you need.
Other homes you might buy
A multiplex home next to the other two common choices
When and how you buy
New or lived in, pre-sale or ready now, buy or keep renting
Questions buyers ask
Also worth reading
- Duplex or condo in VancouverA duplex home set against an apartment, cost by cost
- Multiplex or condo in VancouverSpace, fees and daily life in each
- Half duplex or multiplexHalf of a duplex next to a home in a triplex or fourplex
- Duplex or laneway houseTwo ways to live near family on one lot
- How many homes in the buildingChoosing between a duplex, triplex and fourplex
- Strata or freeholdWhat you own under each kind of title
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page comes from the body that issues it. Rules and rates change, so each entry says when we checked it.
- Greater Vancouver REALTORS monthly market report and MLS® Home Price Index, September 2026. Greater Vancouver REALTORS. Released October 2, 2026, accessed October 9, 2026.
- Saving for a down payment: minimum down payment by purchase price. Financial Consumer Agency of Canada. Current page, accessed 23 October 2026.
- Strata Property Act, Schedule of Standard Bylaws (bylaws 8, 9 and 18). BC Laws, King's Printer for British Columbia. Act current to 20 October 2026, accessed 23 October 2026.
- Strata depreciation report requirements. Government of British Columbia. Published November 12, 2025, accessed October 8, 2026.
- Home warranty insurance for new homes. BC Housing, Licensing and Consumer Services. Current page, accessed 23 October 2026.
- GST/HST Memorandum 19.2.1, Residential Real Property: Sales (exempt sales of previously occupied housing). Canada Revenue Agency. Current page, accessed 23 October 2026.
- Maximum allowable rent increase set at 2.2% for 2027. Government of British Columbia. Released August 27, 2026, accessed October 9, 2026.
General information only. The benchmark prices, down payment amounts and mortgage insurance figures on this page are illustrative and based on the published rules and reports as of the dates noted. They are not financial, mortgage, tax or legal advice, and not a guarantee of qualification or any outcome. Benchmarks, CMHC rules and down payment rules change. Always consult a licensed mortgage broker or your lender, and an independent real estate lawyer or notary, before making any purchase or financing decision.
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