Photo: Quinn Desilets · CC BY-SA 4.0Nelson’s housing is older than most: 46% dates from before 1961 (British Columbia’s towns: 11%)
Asked in 2021, owners gave a median value of $580,000; averaged, their homes came to $587,500. An owner’s figure, not a sale: the census of May 2021 asked what each home would fetch. Sales are published too: 295 buyers in 2023, at a median $623,000.
What Nelson’s homes are worth, three ways
Every figure here is compared within the province, against British Columbia’s towns, since each province assesses on its own terms.
median, owners’ estimate
- Average
- $588K
- Owners
- 3,125
- British Columbia’s towns
- $720K
- The typical Canadian town
- $406K
median sale price
- Average sale
- $640K
- ÷ buyers’ income
- 4.3×
- Buyers
- 295
- British Columbia’s towns
- $682K
all residential
- British Columbia’s towns
- $671K
Census 2021 (Statistics Canada); Canadian Housing Statistics Program, tables 46-10-0099 and 46-10-0093; Québec rôle d’évaluation foncière 2026 (MAMH).
Houses in Nelson carry assessments 12% under the middle of British Columbia’s towns
In 2024, Nelson had 3,895 residential properties on the roll, detached houses 60% of them and condos 9%.
Median assessment by type, 2024 the tick is the median of British Columbia’s towns
Canadian Housing Statistics Program, table 46-10-0093 (2024): residential properties on the assessment roll, vacant land left out. The ticks are the median of British Columbia’s towns with their own figure; assessments compare within a province only.
Major repairs needed: 9% of the homes in Nelson, where British Columbia’s towns have 6%
4,950 occupied homes stood in Nelson in 2021, and single-detached houses made up 51% of them.
Homes by period of construction the tick is the median of British Columbia’s towns
Homes by kind
| Nelson | British Columbia | Canada | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Condominiums | 10% | 10% | 8% |
| Needing major repairs | 9% | 6% | 6% |
| Too small for the household | 4% | 4% | 3% |
| Households in core housing need | 10% | 10% | 7% |
Census 2021 (Statistics Canada): occupied private dwellings; core housing need as Statistics Canada defines it. Ticks and columns are medians of the towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more.
Building at the pace of British Columbia’s towns: 17.1 new homes a year per 1,000 in Nelson, against 18.1
Building permits added 535 homes in Nelson between 2018 and 2023: some 89 a year. Multi-unit buildings took most: single-unit ones were just 15%, where British Columbia’s towns built 27%.
A peak in 2019: 192 new homes
New homes a year per 1,000 homes
Statistics Canada, tables 46-10-0087 (building permits by census subdivision, 2018–2023: dwelling units created, new construction and conversions) and 34-10-0292 (monthly, metro areas). Per 1,000: units a year over 2019–2023 against occupied homes in 2021.
Nelson is 19% below the $720,000 median of British Columbia’s towns
The census values of British Columbia’s towns, 254 of them with 2,500+ people, from dearest to cheapest.
Census 2021, owners’ estimates; towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, no city as a whole, no reserve.
Cheaper next to Nelson: Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay
Next to Nelson: 2021 census values and the share of owners.
| Town | Median home value | Average | Owners | km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nelson | $580K | $588K | 63% | |
| Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay | $548K | $569K | 82% | 3.2 |
| Electoral Area F, Central Kootenay | $604K | $689K | 87% | 4.8 |
Census 2021 values; km.
Questions about property prices in Nelson
Is Nelson expensive for British Columbia?
Below the norm for British Columbia’s towns, whose median home is worth $720,000; Nelson’s is worth less.
What is the average house price in Nelson?
The average sale was $640,000 in 2023, and at the median, buyers paid 4.3 times their income.
How many households in Nelson are in core housing need?
About as many as elsewhere: 10% of households in Nelson, where British Columbia’s towns sit at 10%.
Can I see individual sales or prices by street?
No. Sales are published as town figures (median, average, buyers); street-level or single sales aren’t released.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2021 · Statistics Canada, Canadian Housing Statistics Program · Statistics Canada, building permits (tables 46-10-0087 and 34-10-0292). Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).