I get emails all the time with people asking me the age old question..."from a pure investment standpoint what type of property will give me the maximum or even best chance for appreciation over time?" In my experience and based on historical statistics detached homes have generally appreciated much better than condos over time. Nothing wrong with buying a condo when you're first getting into the real estate market, chances are your first few homes will be condo or townhouse properties. It sure beats renting especially with these record low interest rates. Condos can also be a simple lifestyle purchase... empty nesters selling their detached home, downsizing and looking for a low maintenance home in the heart of the city. Pure appreciation or investment potential is simply not the top priority for these types of buyers it's all about living in Coal Harbor or Yaletown and living the Vancouver lifestyle. So, condos or other types of stratified properties fill this need very nicely. When it comes to detached homes there is little or no new land available in Vancouver or Richmond to build new tracks of detached homes. For this simple reason they tend to outperform condos by a fairly wide margin when it comes to appreciation and that gap has been growing bigger in the past decade. If you can't afford a detached home to start then by all means buy a condo. Build some equity then upgrade to a bigger condo, again build some equity then move up to a detached home as the final goal. It's called climbing the property ladder. It will take some discipline and well thought out planning but it can be done. And yes, even in the Lower Mainland.