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Listings, map and statistics cover single-family houses in Nanaimo, Lantzville, Nanoose Bay, Parksville, Qualicum Beach, Errington, Coombs, Qualicum Bay, Bowser, Cedar, Gabriola Island, Ladysmith and Chemainus, as listed through the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board. For the whole Island, see Vancouver Island houses for sale.
Detached homes on city lots, acreage and the water, in Nanaimo, Lantzville, Nanoose Bay, Parksville and Qualicum Beach, the heritage towns of Ladysmith and Chemainus, and rural Cedar, Errington, Coombs and Bowser.
Browse current Nanaimo and Parksville houses for sale: single-family homes listed through the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board, on city lots, on acreage, on the water and in bare-land stratas, from Chemainus and Ladysmith north to Bowser and Deep Bay.
The house market here falls into three broad parts. Nanaimo's neighbourhoods supply most of the listings and the widest range of ages and prices. The Oceanside towns of Parksville, Qualicum Beach and Nanoose Bay draw retirees and downsizers, which keeps single-level homes in demand. Rural communities such as Cedar, Errington, Coombs, Bowser and Gabriola sell land, privacy and water supply as much as the house itself.
This page walks through the houses in each community: when they were built, typical lots and styles, and the local details worth checking before an offer.
This page shows every detached house in the area, whatever the lot size. Waterfront homes, view homes, houses with suites and homes on acreage all appear here, while condos, townhomes and manufactured homes have their own pages. Some houses sit in bare-land stratas, where you own the lot but share roads or amenities and pay a monthly fee, so check the listing for strata details.
Most of the stock is from the 1970s onward. Split-levels and basement-entry homes from the 1970s and 1980s are common in Nanaimo and Ladysmith, ranchers dominate Parksville and Qualicum Beach, and two-storey family homes with double garages fill the subdivisions built since the 1990s. Early 20th-century houses survive in Nanaimo's Old City, Ladysmith and Chemainus. Use the map above to compare homes of a similar age and lot within one neighbourhood.
North Nanaimo has the city's largest supply of detached homes. Around Departure Bay, houses from the 1950s to the 1980s step up the slopes above the beach and ferry terminal, many rebuilt or renovated to make the most of their ocean outlook. Hammond Bay, Rocky Point and Stephenson Point carry some of the city's most expensive streets, with view and waterfront homes facing the Strait and the islands offshore.
Inland, Uplands, Pleasant Valley, Long Lake and Linley Valley are mostly subdivisions from the 1980s to the present, with two-storey and basement-entry family homes, cul-de-sacs and steady new construction on the remaining slopes. Many newer north-end houses were built with a suite or space for one, and Dover Bay Secondary, the Departure Bay terminal and the north-end shopping district are all close by.
Central and South Nanaimo Houses
The Old City, Newcastle and Brechin Hill hold the city's oldest houses: early 20th-century cottages and character homes on small lots within walking distance of downtown, alongside postwar infill. These homes vary widely in condition, and original wiring, foundations and drainage deserve a close look.
Harewood grew on former five-acre miners' farms, and its lots are often larger and deeper than elsewhere in the city, with houses from many decades on the same street. The University District and the streets around Nanaimo Regional General Hospital add 1960s to 1980s homes, many with suites rented to students or hospital staff; see Nanaimo and Parksville homes with suites.
The South End has modest older homes close to the harbour, while Chase River and Cinnabar Valley are family subdivisions from the 1970s onward, a short drive from the Parkway and the ferry terminal at Duke Point. In general, central and south Nanaimo offer more house for the money than the north end. West of the city, Extension and the Nanaimo Lakes road add rural homes on larger parcels.
Lantzville and Nanoose Bay Houses
Lantzville houses sit on noticeably bigger lots than most of Nanaimo's. Lower Lantzville, between the highway and the water, mixes older cottages and modest homes with newer custom houses along the foreshore, while Upper Lantzville, above the highway, has treed lots and a semi-rural feel. Servicing varies across the district, so ask whether a Lantzville home is on community water and sewer or on a well and septic system.
In Nanoose Bay, Fairwinds is the best-known neighbourhood of detached homes, with custom houses from the 1980s to the present set around the golf course, the trails and the rocky shoreline near Schooner Cove. Fairwinds and several other peninsula neighbourhoods are on regional district water systems, while homes elsewhere in Nanoose Bay may rely on wells. The rest of the community ranges from older homes near Northwest Bay to rural properties on the hills above the highway.
Parksville and Qualicum Beach Houses
Parksville houses are mostly ranchers and two-storey homes on level lots, from 1960s and 1970s homes in the older blocks near the town centre to subdivisions built since the 1990s. The flat ground makes it one of the easiest towns in the area for walking and cycling, and single-level homes near the beach and Community Park sell to a deep pool of retiring buyers. French Creek, just west of town in the regional district, adds homes near its harbour and along the creek.
Qualicum Beach houses are weighted heavily toward single-level living. Homes within walking distance of the village sell on location, Eaglecrest offers larger houses around its golf course near the waterfront, and the town's western and upland streets add newer subdivisions. The town's population is far older than the provincial average, so condition, low maintenance and a main-floor primary bedroom count for a lot with buyers. Beyond the town boundary, Dashwood and Little Qualicum offer rural homes on larger lots.
Errington, Coombs, Qualicum Bay and Bowser Houses
In Errington, Coombs and Hilliers, most houses come with land: hobby farms, horse properties and rural homes on one to twenty acres or more, many with shops, barns or a second dwelling. Wells, septic systems, Agricultural Land Reserve status and outbuilding permits are part of the purchase, and the acreages and land page for Nanaimo and Parksville looks at this part of the market in detail.
North of Qualicum Beach, Qualicum Bay, Bowser and Deep Bay have older cottages and modest homes along Highway 19A, beachfront houses on the water side of the road, and rural homes on treed lots inland. Prices are often lower than in the towns, and the area appeals to retirees and second-home buyers looking for a quieter stretch of coast.
Cedar, Gabriola, Ladysmith and Chemainus Houses
Cedar and Yellow Point
Cedar, South Wellington, Yellow Point and Cassidy are rural, and most houses sit on half-acre to multi-acre parcels with wells and septic. Homes range from older farmhouses to newer custom builds on treed acreage, a short drive from south Nanaimo, the airport and Duke Point.
Gabriola Island
Gabriola houses range from small cabins to large custom homes, many on treed lots of an acre or more. Groundwater from wells is the main water source and rainwater systems are common, so well yield, storage and water quality are central to every purchase, as are septic capacity and the Gabriola Island Local Trust Committee's zoning rules on secondary dwellings and lot sizes.
Ladysmith
Ladysmith houses begin with the early homes on the steep streets around First Avenue, some of them moved from Extension and Wellington when the town was founded. Higher up, subdivisions from the 1970s to the present climb the hillside, many with walkout basements and harbour views. Steep lots mean retaining walls, stairs and drainage are worth inspecting.
Chemainus
Chemainus has older mill-town houses on the grid near the waterfront and murals, newer subdivisions on the slopes above, and rural homes in Saltair, the countryside between Chemainus and Ladysmith in the Cowichan Valley Regional District. Chemainus homes are served by the Municipality of North Cowichan and Cowichan Valley schools.
Buying a House in Nanaimo and Parksville
Much of the stock dates from the 1970s and 1980s, so have an inspector look closely at roofs, windows, original electrical panels, older plumbing and perimeter drainage, and ask whether an older home ever had an oil tank. Nanaimo is built over a network of abandoned coal mine workings, and the City names subsidence over old mines and landslip on steep sites as its most common reasons for asking for a geotechnical report, which can be registered on title; check for such covenants before you buy, especially if you plan to renovate or add on. Outside the municipalities, confirm well flow and water quality, the septic filing and the zoning for any suite, shop or second dwelling. The Vancouver Island houses page covers Island-wide house buying, and the home buying guide walks through a purchase from offer to completion.
Nanaimo and Parksville House Buyer Note
Before buying a house in the area, compare recent sales on the same street or in the same subdivision, check the age of the roof, heating and plumbing, confirm municipal or private water and sewer, verify permits for suites and additions, and ask about bare-land strata fees and bylaws where they apply. On sloped lots in Ladysmith, Departure Bay and Lantzville, look at drainage and retaining walls as well.
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