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Condo vs Townhouse vs Duplex: Which Fits You in the Fraser Valley?

In October 2026 the Fraser Valley board's benchmark apartment cost $460,800, its benchmark townhouse $742,300 and its benchmark detached home $1,293,800. Price is only the start: ownership, fees, rules, financing and resale differ too, and a duplex can be any of 3 different purchases.

By Shawn Kandola, PREC · Published November 5, 2026 · 8 min read

October 2026 prices by property type

The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board's benchmark is the price of a typical home of each type, not an average of what sold. These are the October 2026 figures, released November 3, 2026.

Board-wide, a townhouse cost $281,500 more than an apartment, and a detached home $551,500 more than a townhouse. The board does not publish a separate duplex benchmark, so a duplex is priced from recent duplex sales nearby.

Ownership: strata lot, freehold, or a strata of 2

A condo is a strata lot. You own the unit and a share of the common property, and the strata corporation, which is every owner acting through an elected council, runs the building. A townhouse in a strata complex is owned the same way. Some townhouses sit on their own freehold lot with no strata; the title tells you which.

A duplex is the most varied. It can be 1 title with 2 homes, where you own the whole building and can live in 1 side and rent the other. It can be 2 strata lots in a small strata, where you own 1 half and share insurance and decisions with 1 neighbour. Or it can be 2 halves on separately titled lots with no strata at all. Ask which before you compare prices, because a whole duplex and a half duplex are different purchases.

Small stratas carry lighter paperwork. Since July 1, 2024 every strata with 5 or more lots must get a depreciation report every 5 years, and stratas with fewer than 5 lots are exempt.

Monthly costs: strata fees, insurance and tax

Strata fees come from dividing the approved budget among the lots by unit entitlement, which in condos and townhouses is often based on habitable size. They fund the operating budget and the contingency reserve fund, and since November 1, 2023 every strata must put at least 10% of its operating budget into the reserve each year. Big repairs the reserve cannot cover arrive as special levies. The only reliable fee for a given unit is in its own Form B and budget; the Form B and depreciation report guide shows what to read.

The strata insures the buildings, but not your contents, your improvements, your personal liability or the strata's deductible, which the Province says can range from $100,000 to $750,000 or higher. You may owe that deductible even when you are not at fault, so your condo policy should cover it. A whole duplex on 1 title has no strata fee, but you insure the whole building and pay for the roof and every repair yourself.

Rules: what a strata can and cannot decide

Strata bylaws can cover pets, noise, parking, renovations and short-term rentals. Since November 24, 2022 a strata cannot restrict long-term rentals, and an age restriction is valid only if it is 55 and over. So a strata condo or townhouse can always be rented out long term, which matters if you might keep it as a rental later; the landlord's guide to the Residential Tenancy Act covers that side.

A whole duplex on 1 title answers to the city's zoning, not a strata council. That freedom cuts both ways: no bylaws, and nobody sharing the cost of a new roof.

Duplex vs townhouse: land, rent and room to grow

The biggest difference is what sits under the building. A townhouse owner in a strata shares the land with every other owner and cannot add homes to it. A whole duplex on 1 title is a duplex lot, and duplex lots are inside the scope of BC's Bill 44 rules, so a qualifying lot may be zoned for 3 or 4 homes, or 6 near frequent bus service. The guide to Bill 44 in Surrey and Langley explains how to check a specific lot.

A whole duplex also brings 2 rents, or 1 rent plus your own home, where a townhouse brings 1. The trade is cost and work: you buy 2 homes at once, and you fix the roof, the gutters and the furnace on both sides.

Townhouse vs house

In October 2026 the board-wide benchmark detached home cost $551,500 more than the benchmark townhouse. The gap was $543,700 in Surrey Central and $647,500 in Langley. A house adds land, more privacy and no strata bylaws; it also makes every exterior repair yours alone, with no strata reserve fund sharing the cost. Over the past 10 years the townhouse benchmark rose faster, 62.7% against 43.4% for detached homes.

Space and daily living

An apartment usually puts everything on 1 floor, often with an elevator and shared amenities, which is why many downsizers prefer it. A townhouse usually adds stairs, a patio or small yard and a garage, and shares fewer walls. A duplex half feels most like a house, with 1 shared wall and often its own yard. In Langley the October 2026 townhouse benchmark was $278,300 above the apartment benchmark, and for a growing family that gap often buys the extra bedroom and a door at ground level.

Resale: how each type has moved

Benchmarks for all 3 types are below where they were a year and 3 years ago, and well above where they were 10 years ago.

Which type is selling

In October 2026, 258 townhouses sold board-wide against 1,502 active listings, a sales-to-active ratio of 17.2%. Apartments ran at 11.6% (238 sales, 2,060 listings) and detached homes at 12.8%. The board calls 12% to 20% a balanced market, so townhouses were the most active of the 3. They also sold fastest: 37 days on average, against 44 for condos and 50 for detached homes. None of that predicts the next 10 years.

Financing: down payments and the duplex advantage

Under federal rules, a home under $1.5 million needs 5% down on the first $500,000 and 10% on the part above. Since December 15, 2024 the insured mortgage cap is $1.5 million, and first-time buyers and buyers of new builds can get a 30 year amortization on an insured mortgage.

A duplex where you live in 1 side counts as an owner-occupied 2 unit home, which CMHC insures on the same 5% and 10% tiers. A 3 or 4 unit home needs at least 10% down, and a property you will not live in typically needs 20%.

Which one fits

I usually suggest touring all 3 types on the same weekend, because the trade-offs are easier to feel than to read. First buyers should also read the first-time home buyer guide for the exemption conditions, then compare Langley condos and townhomes with duplexes for sale in Surrey. This is general information, not financial or legal advice.

• First buyers on a tight budget: an apartment has the lowest entry cost, and at $500,000 or less a qualifying first-time buyer pays no transfer tax.
• Young families: a townhouse buys space and a ground-level door for about $281,500 more than an apartment, board-wide.
• Downsizers: a 1 level apartment, or a townhouse with a main floor bedroom, leaves the exterior to the strata.
• Small investors and house hackers: a whole duplex lets you live in 1 side and rent the other on an insured mortgage. Test it with the cap rate and cash flow method and check what Bill 44 allows on the lot.

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