Categories: Lifestyle

Here are some of the cheapest places to buy a home in BC in 2022

Photo via Oleg Mayorov/Shutterstock

The recent BC Property Assessments has given us all a lot to talk about. We covered the most expensive properties in the province and the places where home prices rose the most. And now, we’re sharing some of the cheapest places to buy a home in BC in 2022. At least, according to the province.

Surprise! Vancouver is not the cheapest place in the Lower Mainland to buy a home. Who would have guessed? Instead, that title actually belongs to Hope, which actually saw the biggest single-year increase in the entire region last year. Even still, the average price is sitting at $620,000, or less than a third of Vancouver’s average.

Meanwhile, those looking to really lean into the ‘remote’ part of remote working will find some deals on Vancouver Island. The fishing and ecotourism destination of Zeballos, located in the northwest part of the island, only has one logging road going in and out of it, making it seriously difficult to get to. The payoff? An average home price of $127,000.

Similar deals can be found in the Thompson Okanagan region, and you won’t have to drive down a dirt road to get there. Located about an hour and a half west of Kamloops, the town of Clinton now has an average home price of $176,000, which is over $100k less than the next cheapest option- the nearby Cache Creek.

To our surprise, the prices in Thompson Okanagan are actually cheaper than anywhere in the Kootenays as well. Located east of Osoyoos, the old mining ‘city’ of Greenwood is the most affordable. With an average home price of $228,000, it shares a similar situation as Hope, having seen the largest price increase year over year, at 53%.

None of the above regions even hold a candle to the deals to be had in Northern BC, though. The village of Granisle (kind of close to Smithers, but not really) has an average home value of $73,000. But with a population of around 300 people, the hard part is definitely finding one for sale.

At least now you know where to look. Our unsolicited, amateur advice for prospective home buyers? Some of the cheapest places to buy a home in BC are also the ones seeing the biggest price increases year over year. Vancouver might not be cooling down anytime soon, and these spots might continue to heat up.

Happy house hunting!