Real Estate in West Vancouver

West Vancouver is an expensive area, one of the most expensive in Canada. Most of West Vancouver is made up of single family homes, but there are apartments and townhouses in a number of areas, and as seen from downtown Vancouver there seem to be a lot of apartments in Ambleside.

The table below summarizes the property sales in West Vancouver as a whole during the first quarter of 2007. The figures come from the MLS®,:

* DOM = Days on market

Clearly there is a wide variety of property in West Vancouver, ranging from apartments to multi-million dollar oceanfront houses.

In the following section, the major communities, in terms of house sales, are described. The property market can change rapidly and if you are considering moving into or within West Vancouver you are advised to get up to date information from us.

Ambleside

This area is more densely populated than most of West Vancouver, shown by the number of apartments. People are attracted by the convenience of the location, with easy access to shops and facilities in the area. Commuting to downtown is possible by bus.

British Properties

This is one of the older areas of West Vancouver, and is higher up the mountain. The streets are not laid out in a grid pattern since they have to follow the contours of the landscape.

Caulfeild

This area, whose spelling comes from the founder Francis William Caulfeild, an English gentleman, who set out this area in 1899, following the natural contours rather than a grid pattern.

Families with children are keen on this area because of its quiet neighbourhood feel and access to local schools. Cul de sacs and local tennis courts are often the scene of impromptu street hockey games.

The Caulfeild village shopping centre serves the area.

One of the challenges when moving to this area is the low turnover of houses. Like other popular areas you are advised to keep a watch on the market.

Dundarave

This is one of the most popular areas within West Vancouver, largely because of the attractive landscaping and village feel of the area. The beautiful beach and sea walk are also a great draw.

The area has a few apartments, townhouses and duplexes, but most properties are still single family homes. The area around the sea walk and Marine Drive has the biggest concentration of apartments and tends to be popular with seniors who want ready access to the shops and a relatively level walk. The higher streets tend to be houses.

The streets are laid out in a grid pattern, and rise steeply from Marine Drive. The numbered streets run north-south up the mountain, with the avenues crossing them west-east. You can usually judge how far up the hill an avenue is by it’s first letter, since the earlier in the alphabet you are the lower down the hill.

During 2004 the Marketplace IGA supermarket was rebuilt and once again offers convenient shopping. There is parking under the store and apartments above.

Open Houses

When you are in Vancouver, one good way of exploring the real estate market is to go to Open Houses. You can visit these on your own, but bear in mind that you should get a realtor to act as your agent when you are ready to buy. You are strongly advised not to engage the same realtor who is listing the house you want - there is an inherent conflict of interest in this. See our page on house buying for more.

You can find open houses in the local real estate papers (free). For the northshore you can find them in the North Shore News.