$200,000 Income and $150,000 Saved: What Can First-Time Buyers Afford in Vancouver? (2026)

A couple earning $200,000 a year with $150,000 saved can qualify for a Vancouver home priced up to $1,104,719 if it is new, or $1,102,278 if someone has lived in it, by our calculation from CMHC's rules. That assumes no other debts, a 30-year insured mortgage, a 4.12 percent rate, and $450 a month for property tax and heat. On October 28, 2026, 48 half duplexes and townhouses for sale in Vancouver fit, 36 on the East Side. A mortgage broker's pre-approval gives your exact budget, and our team can match it to homes.

The lender's test

Below 20 percent down, you typically need mortgage insurance, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada says. CMHC's limits:

• Housing costs up to 39 percent of gross income: mortgage payment, property tax, heat and half of any strata fee.
• Housing plus other debts up to 44 percent.
• The payment is tested at your rate plus 2 percent, or 5.25 percent if that is higher.
• A price below $1,500,000, and 30 years to repay through CMHC Home Start for a first-time buyer.

We used 4.12 percent, the Bank of Canada's average for new insured mortgages fixed 5 years or more in August 2026, so the test rate is 6.12 percent. CMHC gives no heat figure, so we used our calculator's $150. The $300 of tax is a placeholder for the home's tax notice: 43 of the 48 homes below show $0 tax on their MLS® record.

The steps

1. $200,000 a year is $16,666.67 a month; 39 percent is $6,500.
2. Less tax and heat, $6,050 is left for the payment.
3. At 6.12 percent over 30 years, that carries a loan of $1,004,410. Lenders state rates as compounded twice a year, and we work out the payment the same way.
4. That includes CMHC's Home Start premium, 3.30 percent at 85.01 to 90 percent of the price. Before the premium, the loan is $972,324.
5. Add your savings left after closing costs. A new home leaves $132,396, for a price of $1,104,719; a resale home leaves $129,954, for $1,102,278.

The minimum down payment at that price is $85,472. At 4.12 percent, your payment would be $4,844.60 a month.

Car or card payments up to $833.33 a month fit inside the 44 percent limit. Each $100 a month of extra costs or debt lowers the price by $12,326 for a new home and $15,756 for a resale home.

What comes out of the $150,000

A new home. BC's newly built home exemption removes all property transfer tax up to $1,100,000 and part of it up to $1,150,000, so the tax is $1,897 here, by our calculation. GST at 5 percent is $55,236. The first-time buyers' GST rebate falls from $50,000 at $1 million to nothing at $1.5 million, so it is $39,528 here, by our calculation from the Canada Revenue Agency's example. That leaves $15,708 of GST if the seller credits the rebate at closing, which CRA allows when you both agree. Ask if the price includes GST.

A resale home. Transfer tax is 1 percent of the first $200,000 and 2 percent of the rest: $20,046. BC's first-time buyers' exemption ends at $860,000.

Lawyer or notary fees, an inspection and moving are left out; they also come off the down payment.

The homes that fit

We counted Active Vancouver listings filed as Half Duplex or Townhouse, or in buildings of three or four. 51 asked $1,104,719 or less; two townhouses at 2137 East Pender Street and one at 2085 East 1st Avenue drop out once half their strata fees count. The 48 left are 30 townhouses and 18 half duplexes, at a middle asking price of $944,500.

• East Side: 24 with 3 bedrooms, 7 with 2 and 5 with 1.
• West Side: 5 with 2 bedrooms and 7 with 1.

In our view, a family needing 3 bedrooms should start on the East Side: none of the 12 West Side homes had 3. Of the 48, 6 describe a laneway home, coach house or garden suite, and 27 show a strata fee of $0 or $1, or none, so ask for the strata budget.

Michael Lee, REALTOR®, Personal Real Estate Corporation, of eXp Realty, lists Unit 5 at 2240 East 40th Avenue, $950,000, with 3 bedrooms.

Tools that show your budget

• Our affordability calculator uses the same CMHC limits and test rate. It assumes a $350 strata fee and property tax of 0.3 percent of the price a year, so enter your savings after closing costs and expect a lower answer than ours.
• Our home search filters Vancouver homes by top price, bedrooms and type.
• Our team checks a home against your numbers.

Questions buyers ask

Do we both have to be first-time buyers?

CMHC gives 30 years to repay when one of you is a first-time buyer. For the GST rebate, CRA checks whether you or your spouse lived in a home either of you owned this year or in the four years before.

Can our parents help with the down payment?

Yes. CMHC accepts a gift from a relative that you never repay.

What about a home at $1.5 million or more?

The down payment would be at least $300,000, or 20 percent. Banks then use OSFI's test rate, which works the same way.

Next step

Talk to our team to test a home on your budget.

General information only. These figures are examples using rules and rates in force on October 31, 2026, and our assumed tax and heat. They are not financial or mortgage advice. Speak to a licensed mortgage broker before you make an offer.

Sources

• CMHC, "Purchase" (homeowner mortgage loan insurance), no date shown, read October 31, 2026.
• CMHC, "CMHC Home Start", no date shown, read October 31, 2026.
• CMHC, "Calculating GDS / TDS", published March 31, 2018, read October 31, 2026.
• Bank of Canada, "Interest rates charged for new and existing lending by chartered banks", insured mortgages, fixed 5 years and over, funds advanced, August 2026, read October 31, 2026.
• OSFI, "Minimum qualifying rate for uninsured mortgages", modified January 29, 2026, read October 31, 2026.
• Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, "How much you need for a down payment", page dated October 15, 2025, read October 31, 2026.
• Province of BC, "Property transfer tax", last updated December 3, 2025, read October 31, 2026.
• Province of BC, newly built home exemption, last updated January 6, 2026, read October 31, 2026.
• Province of BC, first time home buyers' program, last updated June 20, 2025, read October 31, 2026.
• Canada Revenue Agency, first-time home buyers' GST/HST rebate, "What is the rebate", page dated March 30, 2026, read October 31, 2026.
• Canada Revenue Agency, "Who can apply", page dated June 9, 2026, read October 31, 2026.
• Canada Revenue Agency, "Applying for the rebate: home purchased from a builder", page dated October 5, 2026, read October 31, 2026.
• Canada Revenue Agency, GST/HST rates by province, modified April 1, 2025, read October 31, 2026.
• MultiLiving count of Active MLS® listings in Vancouver filed as Half Duplex or Townhouse, or in a building of three or four homes by the record, the text or another listing at the same address, using the price, strata fee, bedrooms, MLS® area, tax and text of each record. Counted October 31, 2026, 1:24 AM PT, from listings last updated October 28, 2026, 10:33 PM PT. Qualifying prices, premium, taxes and rebate are our calculation, with mortgage interest counted monthly. Our copy of the MLS® listings holds homes built in 2025 or later.