How much do you need to earn to buy a condo in Metro Vancouver?
Roughly $105,000 a year for a 1 bedroom condo, or $162,000 for a 2 bedroom.
That's based on median sold prices across 77 firm sales in Burnaby, Richmond and Vancouver between May 23 and August 11, 2026. It assumes 5% down and today's stress-tested mortgage math, not the rate you'd actually pay.
How is that number worked out?
Every federally regulated lender runs the same math: start with the price, subtract the down payment, then test whether your income can carry the mortgage at a rate higher than your contract rate.
For the 2 bedroom median of $743,500:
Down payment (5%): $49,350
Mortgage before insurance: $694,150
CMHC insurance premium (4.00%): $27,766
Total insured mortgage: $721,916
Stress-tested qualifying rate: 6.1% (a 4.1% contract rate plus 2 points)
Payment at the qualifying rate: $4,696 a month
Payment you'd actually pay at 4.1%: $3,851 a month
Add property tax, heat, and half the strata fee, and your lender wants that total at or under 39% of your gross monthly income. That's the Gross Debt Service (GDS) ratio. It produces the $162,000 figure.
Does it really change that much between a 1 bedroom and a 2 bedroom?
Yes, and by more than the price gap alone suggests.
1 bedroom, 20 firm sales: median $460,000, income needed roughly $105,000
2 bedroom, 44 firm sales: median $743,500, income needed roughly $162,000
The price is 62% higher. The income requirement is 54% higher, close enough that bedroom count drives most of the gap.
A 1 bedroom often means qualifying on one strong income. A 2 bedroom usually means needing two.
What if you put down more than the minimum?
It helps, but it costs more than people expect. On the $720,000 overall median:
5% down: $47,000 cash, about $157,000 income needed
20% down: $144,000 cash, about $132,000 income needed
My read: for most first-time buyers reading this, the minimum down payment path gets you into a home years sooner than saving toward 20%, even with the CMHC premium built in.
The premium is a few hundred dollars a month. The years you'd spend renting while you save the extra $97,000 cost more than that.
Does being a first-time buyer change this?
Since December 15, 2024, any first-time buyer can choose a 30 year amortization on an insured mortgage instead of the 25 year standard. That's worth knowing before you treat the numbers above as a ceiling. It adds a 0.20 percentage point surcharge to the CMHC premium, but stretching the payments out lowers what your income needs to cover.
2 bedroom: 25 years needs about $162,000, 30 years needs about $152,000
1 bedroom: 25 years needs about $105,000, 30 years needs about $99,000
To qualify, no borrower on the application can have owned a principal residence in the last 4 years, with an exception for a recent separation or divorce. It applies to resale condos and new construction alike.
Does carrying other debt change the number?
Lenders also cap your Total Debt Service (TDS) ratio at 44%, on top of the 39% GDS ratio. It folds in:
Car payments
Student loans
Credit card minimums
It's the part people forget to check before they start touring units.
If you're at 39% GDS with no other debt, you have zero room left before you hit the 44% TDS ceiling. A $500 a month car payment can push you past it even when your income alone would otherwise qualify.
If you're carrying debt, pay it down before you apply. It moves your ceiling more than most people assume.
Where does $100,000 to $120,000 in household income buy right now?
The city breakdown across these 77 sales makes the pattern clear:
Richmond, 26 firm sales: median $521,500, income needed about $118,000
Burnaby, 37 firm sales: median $720,000, income needed about $157,000
Vancouver, 14 firm sales: median $965,000, income needed about $204,000
If your household income sits in the $100,000 to $120,000 range, Richmond is where the math works today, not Burnaby and certainly not Vancouver proper.
That's my honest read of the numbers.
Fourteen sales in Vancouver is a small sample for that city's number specifically, so treat it as a rough marker, not a precise one.
Frequently asked questions
How much income do I need for a 2 bedroom condo in Metro Vancouver?
Roughly $162,000, based on the $743,500 median across 44 firm sales between May 23 and August 11, 2026, with 5% down and a 4.1% five-year fixed rate stress-tested to 6.1%.
What down payment do I need on a $743,500 condo?
$49,350: 5% of the first $500,000 plus 10% of the remaining $243,500. Below 20% down, a CMHC insurance premium also gets added to the mortgage balance.
Does a bigger down payment lower the income I need?
Yes. On a $720,000 condo, 20% down instead of 5% cuts the required income from about $157,000 to about $132,000, but raises the cash you need upfront from $47,000 to $144,000.
What mortgage rate is used to calculate this?
The stress-tested qualifying rate: the higher of your contract rate plus 2 percentage points, or 5.25%. At a 4.1% contract rate, that's 6.1%, not the 4.1% you'd actually pay.
Does this income figure include closing costs?
No. This covers mortgage qualification only: the payment, property tax, heat, and half the strata fee. Legal fees, inspection, and property transfer tax come on top and don't affect whether you qualify for the mortgage itself.
Barton Lui is a REALTOR® with Real Broker in Vancouver. He works mostly with first-time buyers across Metro Vancouver and speaks English, Cantonese and Mandarin.
If you want to run your own numbers before you start looking, book a consultation or read how condo prices break down by neighbourhood in Burnaby.
Reach him at 604-715-5568 or barton@bartonrealtor.com.
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