Pre-Sale or Already Built? Choosing a New Multiplex Home in Vancouver, and Who Can Help (2026)

In our view, buy a finished home if your family must move by a fixed date, such as a lease ending or a school year starting, and a pre-sale if you want time to sell your current home or plan a move with parents. On October 28, 2026, we counted 400 Active MLS® listings in Vancouver filed as "Half Duplex" or in buildings of 3 or 4 homes: 57 finished in 2025, 328 dated 2026 and 15 pre-sales dated 2027, with middle asking prices within $60,000 of each other. Michael Lee and Gary Paul on our team can show you all three groups. REALTOR.ca also shows MLS® listings.

What is for sale now

Our listing copy holds homes built in 2025 or later.

• Finished in 2025: 57 homes, middle asking price $1,798,800, middle $1,061 per square foot. 28 have 3 bedrooms and 26 have 4 or more.
• Dated 2026: 328 homes, middle $1,798,000, $1,099 per square foot. 224 have 3 bedrooms and 91 have 4 or more.
• Dated 2027: 15 homes, middle $1,739,000, $1,064 per square foot. 8 have 4 bedrooms and 7 have 3.

We read the 15 listings dated 2027 by hand. All are marked as still being built, and 9 give a move-in date between January and summer 2027. By their own count, 11 are in buildings of 3 or 4 homes and 2 in buildings of 6. Two are listed as non-strata.

Our Vancouver pre-sales page lists 12 projects from our records: 4 in pre-sale, 3 being built, 4 near completion, 1 coming soon.

The rules that differ

• Time to cancel. For a finished home, or a pre-sale in a building of 4 or fewer strata homes, you have 3 business days after acceptance to cancel, at a cost of 0.25% of the price (Property Law Act, section 42). In a building of 5 or more strata homes, the Real Estate Development Marketing Act gives you 7 days (section 21). For a non-strata pre-sale, ask a lawyer (more on cancelling).
• Documents and deposit. That Act requires a disclosure statement, and a deposit held in trust unless the seller insures it, only for 5 or more strata lots (sections 1, 14, 18 and 19). In a smaller building, your contract says who holds the deposit. Every new strata must give you an interim budget before you sign (Strata Property Act, section 13).
• Mortgage. Lenders hold a preapproved rate for 60 to 130 days and can still refuse a mortgage after preapproval, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada says. A home due in summer 2027 is further away than that.
• Warranty. On a strata home, 2-5-10 coverage starts at first occupancy or transfer of title, whichever comes first, BC Housing says. On a home finished in 2025, ask when it started.
• Taxes. GST applies when the company that built a home sells it. The first-time buyers' rebate returns up to $50,000 at $1 million or less and nothing at $1.5 million, and you must qualify on the day ownership passes to you (Canada Revenue Agency). BC's newly built home exemption removes transfer tax up to $1,100,000 and part of it below $1,150,000; of the homes dated 2026, 24 asked $1,100,000 or less. Both need a home nobody has lived in.

What you can see before you buy

You can walk through a finished home and have it inspected before your offer is firm. A pre-sale is bought from plans and an agreement, and two of the 2027 listings say buyers can still pick some finishes. We make no forecast of prices for either kind.

Our team, and the homes it lists

Michael Lee, REALTOR®, Personal Real Estate Corporation, of eXp Realty, lists four homes at Quintet, 2240 East 40th Avenue. Gary Paul, REALTOR®, Personal Real Estate Corporation, of Grand Central Realty, co-lists them. A brokerage must not act for both seller and buyer (Real Estate Services Rules, sections 1 and 63), so for a Quintet home, Gary and Michael act for the seller and you need your own agent.

eXp Realty also lists or co-lists 13 other homes of the 400, including both 2027 homes at Edwyn on East 18th Avenue. For those 13, Gary can act for you. A brokerage can also name separate agents for the seller and the buyer by agreement (sections 32 and 63), so ask eXp Realty how that would work if you want Michael. Neither is the agent on any of the 15 pre-sales. Have a lawyer read any agreement before your time to cancel ends.

Questions buyers ask

Is every home dated 2026 finished?

No. For 38 of the 328, the listing says the home is still being built, so ask for the move-in date.

Do I get 7 days to cancel a pre-sale?

Only in a building of 5 or more strata homes. In a strata of 3 or 4, you have 3 business days, at 0.25% of the price.

Can a finished home get the first-time buyer GST rebate?

Yes, if the company that built it sells it to you and nobody has lived in it, among other conditions.

Next step

Talk to our team to see finished homes and pre-sales in the same week.

General information only. The deposit, rebate and tax figures are based on rules in force on October 31, 2026. They are not financial, mortgage, tax or legal advice. Speak to a licensed mortgage broker and a real estate lawyer before you sign.

Sources

• BC Laws, Real Estate Development Marketing Act, sections 1, 14, 18, 19 and 21, current to October 27, 2026, read October 31, 2026.
• BC Laws, Property Law Act, section 42, current to October 27, 2026, read October 31, 2026.
• BC Laws, Home Buyer Rescission Period Regulation, B.C. Reg. 175/2022, sections 2, 4 and 6, current to October 27, 2026, read October 31, 2026.
• BC Laws, Strata Property Act, Part 3, section 13, current to October 27, 2026, read October 31, 2026.
• Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, "Getting preapproved for a mortgage", page dated October 15, 2025, read October 31, 2026.
• BC Housing, "Home Warranty Insurance: What Homeowners Need to Know", content current as of September 22, 2026, read October 31, 2026.
• Canada Revenue Agency, GST/HST Info Sheet GI-004, "Sales by Individuals of Owner-Occupied Homes", page dated June 22, 2017, read October 31, 2026.
• Canada Revenue Agency, "What is the first-time home buyers' 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, Guide RC4028, GST/HST New Housing Rebate, page dated October 21, 2026, read October 31, 2026.
• Province of BC, newly built home exemption, last updated January 6, 2026, read October 31, 2026.
• BC Laws, Real Estate Services Rules, B.C. Reg. 209/2021, sections 1 and 63: dual agency, current to October 27, 2026, read October 31, 2026.
• Canadian Real Estate Association, "The role of REALTOR.ca in modern real estate", April 26, 2022, read October 31, 2026.
• MultiLiving count of Active MLS® listings in Vancouver filed as "Half Duplex", or in a building of 3 or 4 homes by the record's count, another listing at the same address or the listing text, using the year built, price, living area, bedrooms, condition, ownership, listing office and listing text of each record. Three homes listed twice were counted once. Counted October 31, 2026, 3:14 AM PT, from listings last updated October 28, 2026, 10:33 PM PT. Our pre-sales page and project records were read October 31, 2026. Our copy of the MLS® listings holds homes built in 2025 or later.