What does it actually cost to rent vs. buy in Burnaby right now?
Based on current rent data and illustrative ownership assumptions, renting can cost meaningfully less each month than buying a comparable apartment in Burnaby, B.C., though this is a directional comparison rather than a like-for-like one: it sets a Metro Vancouver-wide rent average against a Burnaby North purchase price. Renters paid an average of $2,098 a month for an unfurnished one-bedroom apartment across Metro Vancouver in the August 2026 liv.rent Metro Vancouver Rent Report, while Burnaby apartment prices sit in the high $600,000s to low $700,000s, translating into a mortgage payment well above $3,500 a month once insurance is added, before property tax, strata fees, or maintenance are even counted.
Current Burnaby rent prices in context
liv.rent’s August 2026 Metro Vancouver Rent Report put the region-wide average for an unfurnished one-bedroom apartment at $2,098 a month, up 0.45% from July and down 4.86% from a year earlier. Furnished one-bedrooms averaged $2,181. Burnaby itself ran hotter than that regional trend: it was the only city in the report where every rental category, furnished and unfurnished alike, rose from July to August, and it moved into the top five most expensive cities in Canada to rent in, behind West Vancouver, North Vancouver, Vancouver, and Burlington, Ontario. A furnished three-bedroom rental in Burnaby climbed 4.74% in a single month, from $3,046 to $3,190.
The true cost of buying a Burnaby apartment
Purchase prices tell a different story. Region-wide, prices are down from a year ago, but Burnaby still isn’t cheap. Greater Vancouver REALTORS® put the MLS® Home Price Index figure for apartments across Metro Vancouver at $695,200 in June 2026, down 7.1% from a year earlier. Broken out by sub-area, Burnaby North sat at $678,700, Burnaby East at $709,200, and Burnaby South at $739,100, all down 6.5% to 8.4% year over year.
Turning one of those prices into a monthly number takes more than a sale price, and comparing it against a rent figure means comparing a Burnaby-specific price with a regional rent average, since a Burnaby-only rent by unit type isn’t part of what liv.rent publishes in its monthly summary. With that caveat in mind, using Burnaby North’s $678,700 price as an example, a buyer making the minimum down payment on an insured mortgage (more on that below) would carry a mortgage of roughly $661,000 once the mandatory insurance premium is folded in. At an illustrative five-year fixed insured rate of 4.09% (nesto, August 2026), that works out to about $3,520 a month on a 25-year amortization, before property tax, strata fees, or maintenance are added.
The monthly gap between renting and owning
Add it up, and the gap between the Metro Vancouver rent average and this Burnaby North ownership example runs to about $1,400 a month on the mortgage alone, before property tax, strata fees, insurance, or maintenance are added to the ownership side. That doesn’t make buying the wrong choice. It changes what buying is for: a mortgage payment builds equity, rent does not. But even allowing for the fact that one side of this comparison is a regional average and the other a Burnaby-specific price, renting looks like the cheaper option month to month.
| Monthly cost | Renting | Owning |
| Amount | $2,098 | About $3,520 (mortgage only, modelled estimate) |
| Basis | Metro Vancouver-wide 1-bed average, liv.rent Rent Report, August 2026 | Mortgage plus CMHC premium on a Burnaby North apartment price of $678,700 (GVR, June 2026); excludes property tax, strata fees, insurance, and maintenance |
What BC tenancy law means for renters weighing whether to buy
For renters who already have a lease in Burnaby, provincial law puts a firm ceiling on how much rent can climb each year, something a mortgage payment doesn’t offer once rates move. That protection is worth understanding before assuming ownership is automatically the safer path.
The 2.3% rent increase cap, explained
The Residential Tenancy Branch sets B.C.’s allowable rent increase every year, and for 2026 that limit is 2.3%, down from 3% in 2025 and 3.5% in 2024. On a rent of $2,098 a month, the maximum increase allowed this year works out to about $48.25. A landlord generally cannot exceed that limit just because their own costs, utilities, or strata fees have gone up. Above the annual cap, an increase is only possible with the tenant’s written agreement or through a separate Residential Tenancy Branch process for capital expenditures or additional occupants, which requires its own application and approval.
The three-month notice rule
A B.C. landlord must give a tenant at least three full months’ written notice before any rent increase takes effect, using the province’s Notice of Rent Increase, Form RTB-7, which has to state the exact dollar amount and the date it starts. Rent can only be raised once every 12 months, counted from when it was set at the start of the tenancy or last legally increased. Tenants asked to pay more than the legal limit, or who don’t get proper notice, are not required to pay the increase and can apply for dispute resolution through the Residential Tenancy Branch.
Why a new tenancy resets to market rent
The annual cap only protects a sitting tenant. Once a unit turns over, the province ties the increase limit to when rent was set at the beginning of a tenancy, meaning a new tenant effectively starts at whatever the landlord is asking, not at the previous tenant’s rate. This is often described as vacancy decontrol. It’s the main reason a longtime Burnaby tenant can be paying well under the going rate for their unit, and it’s worth factoring in if part of the appeal of buying is protection from unpredictable increases: as a renter, that protection already exists as long as you stay put. liv.rent’s own guide to B.C. rent increase rules walks through this in more detail.
How much do you need to earn to buy in Burnaby in 2026?
Qualifying to buy is its own hurdle, separate from what the monthly payment ends up being once you’re approved.
The mortgage stress test
Every federally regulated lender in Canada has to qualify buyers at the higher of 5.25% or their actual contract rate plus two percentage points, a rule from the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, though it’s worth confirming with a lender exactly how it applies to your own situation. With nesto listing a five-year fixed insured rate of 4.09% in August 2026 as an illustrative example, that puts the qualifying rate at 6.09%, a full two points above what a buyer would actually pay. Lenders also generally look for total housing costs, mortgage, property tax, heat, and half of any strata fee, to stay near 39% of gross household income (the gross debt service ratio), with total debt near 44% (the total debt service ratio), though the exact threshold can vary by lender and borrower. Based only on the illustrative mortgage payment above, and before property tax, heat, strata fees, or other debts are added, a household would need gross income of roughly $108,000 a year just to stay near that 39% guideline.
Down payment thresholds under CMHC’s rules
For CMHC-insured mortgages, homes priced under $1.5 million can qualify for mortgage default insurance, with a minimum down payment of 5% on the first $500,000 and 10% on the remaining portion, subject to CMHC’s other borrower, property, and credit requirements. On Burnaby North’s $678,700 price, that minimum works out to $42,870. Anything under 20% down requires that insurance, and the premium climbs as the down payment shrinks, from about 0.6% at the high end of CMHC’s scale to 4.5% at the low end. At roughly 6% down, a buyer in this example falls in the higher part of that range, which, based on CMHC’s premium schedule for that loan-to-value tier, adds a premium of about 4%, or roughly $25,433, to the mortgage.
| Item | Amount |
| Purchase price (Burnaby North example) | $678,700 |
| Minimum down payment (5%/10%) | $42,870 |
| Mortgage before insurance | $635,830 |
| Estimated CMHC premium (~4%) | $25,433 |
| Insured mortgage total | $661,263 |
Property transfer tax: the cost buyers underestimate
On top of the down payment, B.C.’s property transfer tax is due at closing: 1% on the first $200,000, 2% on the portion from $200,001 to $2 million, and 3% above that. On a $678,700 purchase, that’s $11,574 before any exemption. First-time buyers may qualify for real relief: B.C.’s First Time Home Buyers’ Program exempts the first $500,000 of a qualifying home’s value from the tax, for an eligible home registered on or after April 1, 2024. A home priced at $500,000 or less is fully exempt from the tax; above that, up to a fair market value of $835,000, the exemption is capped at $8,000 (the tax that would otherwise apply on the first $500,000), with a partial exemption available between $835,000 and $860,000. On this $678,700 example, a qualifying first-time buyer would pay $3,574 rather than $11,574.
When does buying beat renting in Burnaby, and how long does it take?
None of this means buying is a bad idea in Burnaby. It means the payoff shows up over years, not months.
What determines the break-even point
How long it takes for buying to catch up with renting depends on assumptions no single average can capture: the mortgage rate you actually lock in, how quickly the property appreciates, how quickly rent rises in the meantime, what a renter could earn investing the difference, and how many years you plan to stay. In an expensive market like Metro Vancouver, where purchase prices sit well above rent, that horizon tends to run longer than a typical national picture. It’s worth running your own numbers, using your actual rate, price, and timeline, with a mortgage professional or financial planner, rather than leaning on a single published average.
The opportunity cost of your down payment
A $42,870 down payment is money that stops being available to invest elsewhere the day it goes toward a home. Whether that trade pays off depends on the returns a renter could otherwise earn on that capital and the monthly savings from renting, against the equity a buyer builds as the mortgage is paid down and, potentially, as the property appreciates. None of those inputs are guaranteed in either direction. This is general information, not financial advice, and anyone weighing a specific purchase should run their own numbers with a mortgage professional or financial planner.
What a price-to-rent comparison would show
A price-to-rent figure, a purchase price divided by a year of rent for a comparable unit in the same area, is one of the clearest ways to see whether buying or renting looks better on paper. Calculating that specifically for Burnaby would take a Burnaby-only rent figure by unit type, which isn’t part of the portion of liv.rent’s monthly report summarized publicly (the full breakdown is available in the downloadable report). Directionally, the numbers already on the table point the same way: Burnaby apartment prices in the high $600,000s to low $700,000s sit well above what current rents would justify on cash flow alone, consistent with the broader pattern across Metro Vancouver.
Which Burnaby neighbourhoods make the most sense for renters right now?
Burnaby isn’t one rental market, it’s several, and where you land inside the city changes both the rent and the trade-offs above.
Transit-connected areas: Metrotown, Brentwood, and Lougheed
The areas built up around SkyTrain stations, Metrotown, Brentwood, and Lougheed among them, are some of Burnaby’s most sought-after rental areas because they pair density with a short commute into Vancouver. That appeal isn’t just about convenience: Metro Vancouver’s 2025 Housing and Transportation Cost Burden Study found that households well served by fast, frequent transit spend $10,000 to $20,000 less overall on combined housing and transportation costs than households in less connected areas, a saving that can offset a higher rent for renters who don’t need a car. New supply is also coming to the area: construction is underway on 116 below-market rental homes at 6337 Cassie Ave., steps from Metrotown SkyTrain, through the province’s BC Builds program. The building will include 92 one-bedroom and 24 two-bedroom units, backed by provincial, federal, municipal, and developer funding, and is expected to open in 2028.
Where to check current rents before you decide
Rents shift by neighbourhood inside Burnaby the same way they do across Metro Vancouver, and the fastest way to see current, city-specific numbers is liv.rent’s monthly Rent Report, which breaks the region down by municipality. Renters comparing Burnaby pockets against each other, or against nearby Coquitlam and New Westminster, can browse current Burnaby listings directly on liv.rent to see what’s actually on the market today.
Should you keep renting in Burnaby or buy? A decision framework
There’s no universal answer here, only a set of questions that point most people in one direction or the other.
Signs renting is the smarter move right now
You expect to move within five years. Your income wouldn’t comfortably clear the stress test’s 6.09% qualifying rate and the 39% housing-cost guideline. You have less than 5% to 10% saved for a down payment, closing costs, and an emergency fund. Or you simply value the flexibility to leave a building or a city without selling first.
Signs you’re ready to buy
You plan to stay in the home for seven years or more. Your household income comfortably clears both the stress test and the debt-service guidelines with room to spare. You’ve saved the down payment plus property transfer tax, legal fees, and a home inspection, without draining your savings to zero. And you’re prepared to cover strata fees, property tax, and maintenance on top of the mortgage payment every month.
How to use liv.rent while you decide
Whichever side of that list looks more like your situation, liv.rent can make the renting half of the decision easier in the meantime. Verified listings, ID-verified landlords, digital lease agreements, and built-in search tools can help renters look across Burnaby with more confidence while they build a down payment or wait for a better entry point. Read the ultimate renter’s guide to using liv.rent to get started. This is general information, not legal or financial advice, and anyone making a specific decision should speak with a licensed mortgage professional, accountant, or lawyer first.
Is it cheaper to rent than buy in Burnaby in 2026?
On a monthly cash-flow basis, the numbers point that way, though this compares a Metro Vancouver-wide rent average against a Burnaby North purchase price rather than a like-for-like Burnaby figure. Renters paid an average of $2,098 a month for an unfurnished one-bedroom apartment across Metro Vancouver in the August 2026 liv.rent Metro Vancouver Rent Report, while a Burnaby apartment priced at Greater Vancouver REALTORS®’ Burnaby North figure of $678,700 carries a mortgage alone of roughly $3,520 a month once mortgage insurance is factored in. Buying can still build wealth over time through equity and appreciation, but that typically takes years, not months, to catch up to what a renter saves.
How much can my Burnaby landlord raise the rent in 2026?
Under B.C.’s Residential Tenancy Branch rules, landlords can raise rent by a maximum of 2.3% in 2026, once every 12 months, with at least three full months’ written notice on the official Form RTB-7. On a rent of $2,098 a month, that caps the increase at about $48.25, unless the landlord applies separately for an additional increase to cover capital costs.
How much down payment do I need to buy an apartment in Burnaby?
Using Burnaby North’s $678,700 price as an example, CMHC’s insured-mortgage rules call for 5% down on the first $500,000 and 10% on the rest, for a minimum down payment of $42,870, subject to CMHC’s other borrower and property requirements. Down payments under 20% require mortgage default insurance, which adds a premium of up to 4.5% of the loan amount.
What is B.C.'s property transfer tax, and do first-time buyers get a break in Burnaby?
B.C.’s property transfer tax runs 1% on the first $200,000 of a purchase, 2% up to $2 million, and 3% above that. On a $678,700 apartment, that’s $11,574. First-time buyers may qualify to have the tax on the first $500,000 of a home’s value exempted, for an eligible home registered on or after April 1, 2024: a home priced at $500,000 or less is fully exempt, while a home priced above that up to $835,000 gets the exemption capped at $8,000, not a full waiver of the tax. On this example, a qualifying first-time buyer would pay $3,574 instead of $11,574.
Are Burnaby rents going up or down in 2026?
Both, depending on the timeframe. liv.rent’s August 2026 Metro Vancouver Rent Report found Burnaby was the only city in the region where every rental category rose from July to August, and it moved into the top five most expensive cities in Canada to rent in. At the same time, region-wide rents remain down from a year earlier, with the average unfurnished one-bedroom off 4.86% from August 2025.
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