Vancouver Now the Most Expensive City in North America

February 14, 2012

Posted by Vancity Buzz | 13 »

It seems like the price to pay for living in one of the world’s most livable cities just keeps getting steeper. A report on worldwide cost of living released by The Economist reveals that Vancouver is now the most expensive city in North America. Yes, even more expensive than The Big Apple (NYC) and the City of Angels (LA). Vancouver is now the 37th most expensive city in the world, up from 72nd last year. You can lay most of the blame to the city’s high cost of housing and low pay among other things.

It seems as though sooner or later something has to give. If real estate prices remain steady we will continue to see a flow of talent to the ‘burbs and elsewhere. This would stifle the creative community and have ripple effects on the city’s culture.

Zurich and Tokyo came in at number one and two.

See the cost of living index chart below to see where other cities stack up.

Image by Maurice Li

Alex

Don’t like it move to moosejaw
Jas

Shit I may have to move to Surrey
Ryan

Honestly, having lived in Toronto to compare I don’t find Vancouver any more expensive in terms of costs. My rent in Vancouver is about the same as it was in Toronto. My grocery bills are the same as Toronto. My utilities on average are less. Transit is less. I spend less at restaurants.

Where Vancouver’s problem is is the wages. I moved out here for personal reasons and I had no idea how much a pay cut that meant. My wage took a good 25% hit doing the same job here as I did in Toronto.

What I find most frustrating about it though is that the Ad Agency I work for now is much the same as the ones I worked for out east in that they bill out to American clients and charge them about the same amount. So thus one can conclude this cost of living isn’t the result of living in Vancouver but more the result of excessive corporate greed. (Which in itself isn’t a surprise but it seems odd that it is worse here than anywhere else)
guest

I am new to vancity buzz and lately i have been reading your articles about the cost of housing and living in vancouver and enjoy reading them.

One of your previous articles, ”Main Street, The Great Million Dollar Divide”"Naturally, a lot of the single family homes will be passed on to future generations, it’s like winning the lottery. This will be the only way the majority of future generations will be able to live in a detached home in Vancouver. To this day one of the greatest things my parents ever did was not sell their home in Vancouver and flee to Surrey and other suburbs as so many were doing so in the 90′s.” – vancity buzz^I totally agree.I live in a old old house in vancouver, good area, good location.is it worth selling the house while the house isnt worth much and the land is pretty much worth everything? should we just keep the house? move to burnaby and beyond? Just need another voice to help me out on this decision.
cn

I moved here from Toronto as well, but my salary doubled, yet I am in no better financially speaking now then I was back east…

I find it pretty insane out here.
Ryan

Ha, what do you do? I arrived here and discovered because I am in the “High Tech” industry that I am no longer entitled to meal breaks, stat holidays, overtime pay, weekends, or sick leave and at the same time wages vastly decreased.

I have managed to get a slightly better gig, (I am not making the same as I was when I first graduated) but the first gig I had when I moved here was $15,000 per year below that and I was working 40+ hours of overtime per week and still struggling to make rent.
Dave

Welp, might aswell move to Dubai
Khan

Is surrey any cheaper?
Mike

Why don’t you ever link to the original article? Or did you do this research by yourself??
Lise Jamieson

I live in London, Ontario, and I can attest that it is very expensive. Not many good paying jobs and very high property taxes. Looking at some statistics on line, the cost of living in London is probably as expensive as Toronto or Vancouver. The housing market has dropped significantly over the last 6 months but is still expensive compared to salaries. The largest employer probably is the University of Western Ontario. Not a good place to live as so many companies have laid-off so many workers. (Very high unemployment rate). I do not recommend London at all unless you are accepting a good paying job. Then you are ahead.
Littlemissrisk

I take strange comfort that if I choose to move to Berlin, Hamburg, Amsterdam, or any number of other cities I find interesting/livable that I will likely feel well-off as I know I can survive here in Vancouver. But at what point is the City Of Vancouver going to step up and say to the real estate industry ‘C’mon guys, don’t you think you’re being a *tad* ridiculous?” I’d give my right arm to see that conversation go down.
Anon.

Having been born & raised in Vancouver, I can honestly tell you that the 80′s & 90′s in Vancouver were SO different. Everything was so affordable, people who went to school got decent jobs. You could literally get a four bedroom house in Kerrisdale for $78,000.

Over the past thirty years Vancouver has grown into a large metropolis.

What everyone doesn’t seem to understand still is that Liberal government had a policy where only people that made a certain income could immigrate to B.C. (Mostly people from Asia known as the “nouveau riche” as people in China like to refer to them.)( Basically these people become rich by providing cheap labour and trade.) You all know how the story goes.

Immigrants and people with foreign money come to buy property and artificially inflate housing costs. Have you ever taken a stroll in Coal Harbour at 7pm? Nobody’s lights are on, nobody’s home!

THIS IS THE ONLY REASON WHY VANCOUVER DOES NOT HAVE AFFORDABLE HOUSING. It affects commercial and residential properties all the same.

Unfortunately, at this point there’s no way to adjust what has gone on. However, what the government could do is put a limit on foreign buyers/investors. It would take a few decades, maybe 30 years, but we’d see some improvement.
Jack

Unfortunately this article is just as misleading as all the other articles that keep harping about how expensive Vancouver is. For the record, the cost of goods and services in Vancouver is no more expensive than the rest of Canada, and is cheaper than many places. Go shopping in Regina SK and compare food and clothing prices.

Yes real estate is expensive – the most expensive in Canada – but still cheap when compared to cities around the world.

But how can that be! you ask. The media keeps saying Vancouver has the most expensive real estate on the planet!

Yes, the media does say that, and what they often fail to add is that they are basing their ranking on the prices in Vancouver divided by the average income. In other words, the problem is that salaries are low, not that prices are high.

But why let facts get in the way of a good story…

Vancouver Now the Most Expensive City in North America

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