Urban centre · Victoria, Victoria

Downtown and Harris Green

The Inner Harbour, heritage streets and condo towers in a walkable core

Young professionals
Renters
Car-free living

Downtown and Harris Green in context. Neighbouring areas link to their guides. Boundaries: Statistics Canada (approximate areas).

At a glance

Downtown and Harris Green is Victoria's compact urban core, from the Inner Harbour and Government Street to Chinatown and Harris Green, with heritage buildings, new condo towers and the city's densest renter population. About 1% of homes are detached and 98% are apartments, 71% of households rent, and owners valued the median home at about $529K in the 2021 census.

Median home value (est.): $587K^*
Residents: 13,190
Households renting: 71%
Homes that are apartments: 98%

What the numbers mean

Owners valued the median home at $529K in the 2021 census. Indexed to September 2026 prices with the Victoria MLS® Home Price Index (+11% since then), that is about $587K, 41% below the Victoria median of $987K. It is an estimate: the index tracks the whole region, not this neighbourhood.
71% of households rent, well above the 39% city-wide, so expect a younger, more mobile mix of neighbours.
Only 4% of residents are under 15, versus 13% city-wide.
38% of residents are 20 to 34, versus 20% city-wide. It skews young-professional.
98% of homes are apartments (36% city-wide), so a condo is the usual way in.

Who lives here

Share of residents by age, scaled estimate for mid-2025, up from 12,158 at the 2021 census.

0-144%

15-191%

20-249%

25-3430%

35-4416%

45-5411%

55-6412%

65+17%

Homes

Share of homes by type, scaled estimate for mid-2025, up from 12,158 at the 2021 census.

Single-detached1%

Semi-detached0%

Row house1%

Duplex flat0%

Apartment under 5 storeys28%

Apartment 5+ storeys70%

Upfront closing costs¹

BC charges a tiered property transfer tax: 1% on the first $200,000, 2% to $2 million, then 3%, and 5% above $3 million. Government fees at the median home price: This uses the census home value indexed to September 2026 prices, so treat it as an estimate.

BC property transfer tax: $9,740

How it's changing

These municipalities don't publish building permits by neighbourhood, so we can't chart construction here yet.

Safety

Neighbourhood-level crime figures aren't available for Victoria. Policing there is by the RCMP or a municipal police department, and neither publishes open crime counts by neighbourhood. Check Statistics Canada's crime tables for municipality-wide trends, and the local police website for crime maps. Why this is missing.