Downsizing in Mission

What is a Mission house worth now, and how has that changed?

Each month the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board publishes a benchmark price for each type of home in Mission. A benchmark is the board's estimate of what a typical home of that type sells for. For a detached house it was $889,200 in September 2026.

That is 62.6% higher than ten years ago. The board's price index for Mission houses is 333.5, on a scale where January 2005 is 100, so a typical house costs 3.3 times what it cost then.

Over the last twelve months prices fell. The detached benchmark is $135,800 lower than in September 2025, a fall of 13.2%. The townhouse benchmark fell by $26,100 (4.1%) and the condo benchmark by $20,400 (4.7%). The house benchmark fell by more dollars than the townhouse benchmark, so the gap between the two narrowed from $380,900 to $271,200.

Few townhouses and condos sell in Mission each month

In September 2026 the board counted 5 townhouse sales and 5 condo sales in Mission. At the end of the month 67 townhouses and 55 condos were listed for sale. Abbotsford had 254 and 318. A buyer in Mission has fewer homes to choose from, and a seller of a townhouse or a condo has fewer recent sales of similar homes to set a price by.

The board also prints a median and an average price for Mission. Each is worked out from 5 sales, so one high or low sale can move it by a large amount. This page gives benchmark prices only. Houses sell in larger numbers: 28 sales in the month, with 231 listed.

We suggest you watch the smaller homes for sale before you list, and make your own sale firm, meaning your buyer has removed every condition, before you sign a purchase. Sell first or buy first gives the cost of each order. For a free price range on your own house, fill in the form at the bottom of this page.

How much is left after you sell a Mission house and buy smaller here?

The table takes a Mission house sold at the benchmark, with no mortgage, and a Mission townhouse bought at its benchmark. You pay costs when you sell and again when you buy.

The townhouse example ends with $221,530. Change the purchase to a condo at $411,500 and it ends with $432,160. Of the six cities we cover, Mission has the smallest gap between the house benchmark and the townhouse benchmark: $271,200, against $668,500 in Langley. (Chilliwack's figures are for August 2026.)

Four of the lines are examples: the 3% commission, the legal bill on each side and the moving cost. The BC Financial Services Authority, which regulates real estate agents, says no standard rate exists. Two lines follow fixed rules: 5% GST on the commission, and property transfer tax, which the buyer pays at 1% of the first $200,000 and 2% of the part from $200,000 to $2,000,000.

Income tax, and rural lots larger than half a hectare

If the house was your principal residence, meaning the home you lived in, for every year you owned it, the Canada Revenue Agency says you pay no tax on the gain. You report the sale on your tax return either way. On a rural lot, the land that counts as part of the residence is usually limited to half a hectare, which is 1.24 acres, unless you can show that you needed more to use and enjoy the home. See an accountant before you list an acreage. Tax when you sell your home explains both rules, and helping your children buy covers money meant for family.

Selling in Surrey, Langley or Maple Ridge and buying in Mission: how big is the gap?

The table compares the house benchmark in each of those cities with the Mission townhouse and condo benchmarks.

With the example costs, a Maple Ridge house sold and a Mission townhouse bought leaves $479,829, and a Mission condo leaves $690,459. Before you choose Mission, ask whether your family doctor will keep you as a patient. The Province's Health Connect Registry is the list for people who need a family doctor or nurse practitioner. Moving east to free up money compares Mission with Chilliwack.

Which parts of Mission have condos, townhouses and one-level homes?

The City's Official Community Plan, its long-range plan for what may be built where, says Mission is on the slopes of the coastal mountains and overlooks the Fraser River. At every home, check how steep the street and driveway are, and count the steps to the door and the stairs inside.

The 2021 Census counted 795 row houses, its name for homes joined side by side such as townhouses, and 1,210 apartments in apartment buildings. Together they were 14.2% of the city's homes.

The community plan sends most new homes to the Downtown, smaller centres it calls Neighbourhood Centres, the main road corridors, and the Waterfront, a long-term project on 296 acres beside the Fraser River.

• Downtown and the train station. The plan calls the Downtown Mission's most densely developed neighbourhood. Near the West Coast Express station, a bylaw adopted on September 9, 2024 allows residential buildings of 10 storeys within 200 metres and 6 storeys from 200 to 400 metres.
• Around Mission Memorial Hospital. The plan calls this land the Health and Wellness District and allows clinics and multi-unit housing there. The City is writing a plan for it.
• Cedar Valley. The Cedar Valley Local Area Plan, adopted on November 18, 2019, says its first phase gained 1,106 single-family houses, 75 townhouses and 54 row houses in 20 years, counts it gives as approximate. It sets land aside for more row houses and townhouses and, in limited locations, apartments.
• Stave Heights. A 30-hectare area above Heritage Park and east of Stave Lake Street. The City's plan for it describes a hillside, so look closely at slopes and stairs.

A house on one level is called a rancher. The census counts ranchers with every other detached house, so no official figure shows where they are. The community plan also names three risks that come with Mission's land: flooding, wildfires and unstable slopes. Ask about each one at any address.

Homes for sale now: Mission condos, Mission townhouses and Mission houses. Condo, townhouse or rancher compares stairs, outside work and monthly costs for the three. A strata is the owners' group that runs a condo or townhouse complex and charges each owner a monthly fee: strata fees on a fixed income shows what it pays for.

Hospital, buses, the train and seniors' programs: what does Mission have?

Mission Memorial Hospital

Mission Memorial Hospital is at 7324 Hurd Street. Fraser Health, the regional health authority, says it provides "24/7 emergency stabilization and care" and general medicine. Surgery and maternity care are absent from its list of services there. Fraser Health's page for Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre lists both, so ask your doctor which hospital you would be sent to.

Fraser Health keeps a separate page for temporary overnight interruptions at the emergency department. When we read it on October 10, 2026 it had last been updated on September 21, 2026, and it said none were expected.

For an urgent problem that is not life-threatening, the Mission Urgent and Primary Care Centre at 304-32555 London Avenue is open 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. every day, including statutory holidays.

Buses and handyDART

The City says transit in Mission is part of BC Transit's Central Fraser Valley system. Route 39, the Shopper Shuttle, starts at Mission City Station and stops at Mission Hills Mall, the hospital and the Mission Leisure Centre. handyDART is the door-to-door service for people whose permanent or temporary disability keeps them from using regular buses without help. You register first, at no charge. It runs 7:45 am to 4:45 pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 7:45 am to 9:30 pm on Wednesday, and 9:00 am to 5:00 pm on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.

The West Coast Express

TransLink's West Coast Express is a commuter train between Mission City Station and Waterfront Station in Downtown Vancouver, on weekdays only. Five trains leave Mission between 5:25 a.m. and 7:25 a.m., and five leave Waterfront between 3:50 p.m. and 6:20 p.m. for the return trip. TransLink says no elevator connects the south side of the tracks with the platform at Mission City Station, so visit the station before you rely on the train.

The Leisure Centre and the seniors' centre

The Mission Leisure Centre is at 7650 Grand Street. The Boswyk Seniors Activity Centre, which the City runs with The Mission Seniors Centre Association, is for people aged 55 and above and lists fitness classes, line dancing, cards and billiards. Statistics Canada's 2021 Census counted 41,519 residents in Mission, and 6,495 of them, or 15.6%, were aged 65 or older.

When is Mission property tax due, and can you lower it or defer it?

The home owner grant at 65

The home owner grant is a provincial program that takes a set amount off the property tax on the home you live in. You claim it from the Province every year. The grant is $570, and $845 for an owner aged 65 or older, on a home assessed at $2,075,000 or less for 2026. Those are the amounts the Home Owner Grant Act sets for the Fraser Valley Regional District, and Mission is one of its six member municipalities.

Deferring the tax at 55

Under the Province's regular deferment program, an owner aged 55 or older who meets the conditions can have the Province pay the year's property tax as a loan. A lien, which is a legal claim for the debt, then goes on the title of the home. On tax deferred for 2026 and later, interest compounds monthly at 2% above the prime rate, which means interest is charged on unpaid interest. The City of Mission takes no deferment applications, so you apply to the Province online.

In the year you sell

The Province says a deferment loan must be repaid in full when the home is sold. The City's tax questions page says your lawyer or notary gets a tax certificate and tells you whether you or the buyer pays the year's tax and claims the grant. Property tax deferment and the seniors grant gives the full rules.

Should you stay in Mission, or buy in Abbotsford or Maple Ridge?

Of the six cities we cover, Mission has the second-lowest house benchmark, the third-lowest townhouse benchmark and the third-lowest condo benchmark. (Chilliwack's figures are for August 2026.)

Abbotsford borders Mission. The townhouse benchmark there, $592,600, is $25,400 below Mission's, and the condo benchmark, $370,200, is $41,300 below (FVREB, September 2026). West of Mission is Maple Ridge, where the townhouse benchmark, $700,800, is $82,800 above Mission's and the condo benchmark, $513,400, is $101,900 above (Greater Vancouver REALTORS®, September 2026).

A move to another city also changes the distance to your family, your doctor and your friends. Drive each of those trips from the new address before you decide.

• Downsizing in AbbotsfordHouse $1,087,000, townhouse $592,600, condo $370,200. FVREB, September 2026.
• Downsizing in Maple RidgeHouse $1,155,900, townhouse $700,800, condo $513,400. GVR, September 2026.

Both pages belong to our Fraser Valley downsizing guide.

Buying in a 55 and over complex, or buying new: what are the rules?

A complex for people aged 55 and over

A strata, in the Province's words, "can only have age-restriction bylaws that restrict residents to age 55 and older". Under the Strata Property Act, a bylaw can require one or more of the people living in a home to have reached an age of at least 55. Each complex therefore sets its own rule: one resident or every resident, at 55 or at a higher age. A live-in caregiver, a spouse or partner and children are exempt. Ask for the bylaws before you make an offer, and see 55 and over buildings in BC.

Transfer tax when the home is newly built

BC's newly built home exemption removes the property transfer tax on a new home worth $1,100,000 or less, and it is open to buyers who have owned homes before. The buyer has to be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, move in within 92 days, and live in the home for the rest of the first year. At the Mission benchmarks that is $10,360 saved on a new townhouse or $6,230 on a new condo.

What should a Mission owner, or a buyer moving here, do first?

1. Start with the form on this page and ask for a price range. Say if the house is in another city or on a rural lot.
2. Put that price into the calculator, with your mortgage balance and any property tax you have deferred.
3. Watch Mission's townhouses and condos for sale for a few weeks.
4. Visit the ones you like. Count the steps, drive to the hospital and climb the overpass at Mission City Station.
5. If your lot is larger than half a hectare, or part of the house was rented out, talk to an accountant before you list. Then repair what a buyer's inspector would find: see getting a 30-year-old house ready to sell.
6. List the house, ask the Province for the payout amount of any deferment loan, and buy when your sale is firm.

The downsizing checklist gives these steps in order, month by month.

Downsizing in Mission: questions and answers

What is a detached house worth in Mission, BC in 2026?

The benchmark price of a detached house in Mission was $889,200 in September 2026, by the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board's figures. That is 13.2% lower than in September 2025 and 62.6% higher than ten years ago. A benchmark is the price of a typical house, so yours can sell above or below it.

If I sell my Mission house and buy a townhouse or a condo in Mission, how much is left?

In our example, $221,530 is left after a townhouse and $432,160 after a condo. The example sells a Mission house at the September 2026 benchmark of $889,200, with no mortgage, and takes off an example 3% commission, GST, two legal bills, property transfer tax and moving costs. The townhouse is bought at $618,000 and the condo at $411,500.

Why do median and average prices for Mission townhouses and condos change so much each month?

Few of them sell. The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board counted 5 townhouse sales and 5 condo sales in Mission in September 2026. One high or low sale moves a median or an average worked out from so few sales. The benchmark describes a typical home: $618,000 for a townhouse and $411,500 for a condo.

How much more is a Surrey, Langley or Maple Ridge house worth than a Mission townhouse?

At September 2026 benchmark prices the gaps are $768,200 from Surrey, $853,100 from Langley and $537,900 from Maple Ridge, before any cost. The benchmark house was $1,386,200 in Surrey and $1,471,100 in Langley (Fraser Valley Real Estate Board), and $1,155,900 in Maple Ridge (Greater Vancouver REALTORS®). The Mission townhouse benchmark was $618,000.

Are there many condos and townhouses in Mission, and where are they?

They are a small share of the city's homes. In the 2021 Census, row houses, such as townhouses, and apartments in apartment buildings were 14.2% of Mission's 14,100 occupied homes. The City's community plan sends new ones to the Downtown, the land near the train station, the area around the hospital, and Neighbourhood Centres.

Is the emergency department at Mission Memorial Hospital open 24 hours a day?

Fraser Health says Mission Memorial Hospital provides 24/7 emergency stabilization and care. Its page on temporary overnight interruptions at that emergency department, last updated on September 21, 2026, said on October 10, 2026 that none were expected. Read fraserhealth.ca/mmhed before you rely on a night-time visit.

Does the West Coast Express run from Mission on weekends?

No. TransLink says the West Coast Express travels on weekdays, in the morning and evening rush hours. Five trains leave Mission City Station for Downtown Vancouver between 5:25 a.m. and 7:25 a.m., and five leave Waterfront Station between 3:50 p.m. and 6:20 p.m. to return to Mission.

When is property tax due in Mission, and what is the late penalty?

The City of Mission's due date is the first business day after the July 1 holiday. In 2026 that was Thursday, July 2. On July 3, 2026 the City added a 10% penalty to every unpaid balance, and an unclaimed home owner grant counted as unpaid.

Can I defer my Mission property tax when I am 55?

Yes, if you meet the Province's conditions. You apply to the Province online, because the City of Mission takes no applications. Interest on tax deferred for 2026 and later compounds monthly at 2% above the prime rate, and you repay the whole loan when you sell.

Is Mission cheaper than Abbotsford or Maple Ridge for a townhouse or a condo?

Of the three cities, Abbotsford has the lowest benchmark for both. In September 2026 the townhouse benchmark was $618,000 in Mission and $592,600 in Abbotsford (Fraser Valley Real Estate Board), and $700,800 in Maple Ridge (Greater Vancouver REALTORS®). For condos the benchmarks were $411,500, $370,200 and $513,400, in that order.

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