Craig Johnston Personal Real Estate Corporation · Brokerage: Royal LePage Elite West
I’ve been a Burke Mountain resident for 9+ years and I sell Port Moody inside one of Royal LePage’s Top 2% Team nationwide, 2023–2025. This guide is for one specific buyer: the family already in a Tri-Cities condo or townhome who’s ready for the next rung. Klahanie townhome to Well-priced entry-level Heritage Mountain detached. Burnaby condo to Suter Brook. Well-priced entry-level Heritage Mountain detached to Inlet District downsize. The mechanics of getting that step right in 2026 — without bridging yourself into a corner.
4.9 across 36+ Google reviews Top 1% Team — GVR, 2023–2025 47+ years in the Tri-CitiesFree · one email per month
Real GVR numbers. Plain-English explanation of what they mean for your move. No salesy fluff, no listings flood, no follow-up calls. Unsubscribe anytime.
Four numbers that frame every Port Moody move-up conversation. Detached sits at the top of the Tri-Cities; the townhouse band is the rung most move-up buyers cross next; apartments anchor Suter Brook, Inlet Centre and Newport Village. All three bands eased year-over-year (figures below), which actually compresses the gap you cross when you step up.
-8.4% YoY · highest detached benchmark of the three Tri-Cities cities.
-5.2% YoY · tighter inventory than Coquitlam townhomes.
-4.9% YoY · Suter Brook · Newport Village · Inlet Centre.
-5.8% YoY · Port Moody-wide all-property blend.
Detached homes, Port Moody-wide · September 2026 GVR® REALTOR® Report.
Source: GVR® monthly statistics, Port Moody submarket, September 2026 release.
Port Moody’s move-up market doesn’t serve everyone. It serves four specific buyer profiles. If your situation matches one of these, the rest of this page is the playbook. If it doesn’t, that’s useful too — Burke Mountain or Westwood Plateau may fit your specific move better.
Currently in a Klahanie or Suter Brook townhome and ready for Well-priced entry-level Heritage Mountain detached. Wants the lot, the layout jump, and the Heritage Woods Secondary catchment for the kids. The most common Port Moody move-up profile and the one with the cleanest sequencing math because both legs sit inside the same city.
Leaving a Burnaby or Vancouver condo for a Port Moody townhome — usually Klahanie, Suter Brook, or a newer Moody Centre infill. Wants two SkyTrain stations, brewery-district walkability, and family-fit square footage at a price the Vancouver condo equity covers.
Has spent fifteen-plus years on the mountain. Kids out of Heritage Woods. Ready to free up equity for retirement and trade the lot for a walk-to-coffee Inlet Centre or Newport Village condo. This is move-up in reverse — same playbook, opposite direction.
Already in Port Moody but in the wrong catchment for the next school stage. Often moving from Glenayre or Moody Centre into the Heritage Mountain / Eagle Mountain Middle / Heritage Woods Secondary ladder ahead of a grade-6 or grade-9 transition. Timing is driven by the school calendar, not the market cycle.
Most of my Port Moody move-up clients started somewhere else — a Burnaby condo, a Klahanie townhome, a Burke detached — and have already lived the “more square footage” story. Port Moody is a different trade. It’s less about size and more about a structural lifestyle change.
Port Moody runs a smaller, denser product mix than Coquitlam. The detached stock is concentrated on Heritage Mountain (executive hillside, view streets, 1985–2005 builds with steady renovation) and along the Inlet-adjacent streets in Old Orchard, Rocky Point and College Park. Detached lots tend to be smaller than Westwood Plateau’s and larger than Burke’s. Family townhomes are anchored in Klahanie (Inlet-side, master-planned, Canoe Club access), Suter Brook (walk to Inlet Centre SkyTrain and Newport Village), Heritage Mountain edge, and newer Moody Centre infill on the brewery-district side.
The structural promise is walkability + Inlet + breweries + schools. Brewers Row along Murray Street, Rocky Point Park, the Shoreline Trail to the pier, Newport Village shopping and dining, Suter Brook’s daily-life density — this is the lifestyle the premium is paying for. Two Evergreen SkyTrain stations (Moody Centre and Inlet Centre) connect to downtown Vancouver by SkyTrain (check TransLink’s Trip Planner for your trip). Heritage Woods Secondary’s 325-seat theatre and urban-forest campus make it a catchment many move-up families ask about.
The honest trade-off: Port Moody is the smallest of the three Tri-Cities by inventory. Well-priced entry-level Heritage Mountain detached homes can move quickly. Klahanie family townhomes the same. Move-up sequencing here is more about being ready to act in 12 hours than about waiting for the perfect listing — the operational discipline matters as much as the price work.
Port Moody’s tiers run higher than Coquitlam at the detached top — but the entry-condo tier is competitive thanks to dense Suter Brook + Newport Village + Inlet Centre product. Below is the September 2026 reality for move-up buyers planning the next rung.
| Tier | Benchmark / sales (September 2026) | What it typically buys | Move-up profile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry condo | 17 of 21 condo sales were $400K–$899,999 | 1–2 bed, modern strata. Suter Brook, Inlet Centre, Newport Village. | First-rung buyer or empty-nester downsizing from Well-priced entry-level Heritage Mountain detached. |
| Premium condo / entry townhome | Apartment benchmark $676,200 | 2–3 bed condo or entry townhome. Klahanie, Suter Brook, Inlet Centre. | Burnaby / Vancouver condo relocator stepping into Port Moody townhome life. |
| Premium townhome | Townhome benchmark $940,900 | 3–4 bed, attached double garage. Klahanie rows, Moody Centre, Heritage Mountain edge. | Move-up families not yet ready for detached pricing, or right-sized for the long stay. |
| Entry detached | Detached benchmark $1,903,500 | 3–4 bed, established lot. Lower Heritage Mountain, Moody Centre, Glenayre. | Klahanie townhome stepper crossing into detached — the headline move-up bracket. |
| Mid detached | Above the detached benchmark | 4–5 bed, premium street or view exposure. Heritage Mountain, Rocky Point-adjacent, College Park. | Long-stay forever-home decision; school-driven Heritage Woods catchment buyer. |
| Upper detached / Inlet luxury | $2M+ detached: 4 sales, 72 active listings | 5-bed+, view-street or Inlet-waterfront-adjacent. Upper Heritage Mountain, Inlet view streets. | View-driven luxury buyer; Vancouver-equity relocator buying the long-hold home. |
Live MLS®: Port Moody detached & townhomes. Or PDF format: Tri-Cities Pricing Cheat Sheet.
Port Moody is small enough to walk end-to-end in a day — but for move-up buyers it breaks into four distinct zones with different price bands, school catchments, and lifestyle promises. Pick the zone before the house.
The Port Moody hillside. View streets, executive detached, Heritage Mountain Elementary feeding Eagle Mountain Middle and Heritage Woods Secondary. Heritage Mountain's detached benchmark is $1,933,800; view streets trade higher. The most common destination for move-up families crossing into Port Moody detached.
Heritage Mountain guide →Master-planned Inlet-side communities. Klahanie townhomes (Canoe Club access, family-fit 3-bed), Suter Brook townhomes and condos walkable to Inlet Centre SkyTrain and Newport Village. Townhome benchmark $940,900, apartment benchmark $676,200. The bridge tier for almost every Port Moody move-up sequence.
Klahanie / Suter Brook guide →Historic Moody Centre, Brewers Row along Murray Street, Rocky Point Park, Old Orchard, the Shoreline Trail. Two SkyTrain stations on the Evergreen Line. Mix of older detached, newer infill townhomes, and a growing condo footprint. The downsize destination for many Heritage Mountain empty-nesters.
Brewers Row guide →Ioco and April Road sit on the eastern Inlet edge — quieter detached streets near Old Mill Park. Glenayre on the west sits on established 1960s–1990s family detached with cul-de-sac streets and École Glenayre Elementary as the K-entry Early French Immersion host. Less amenity density than central PM, larger lots, often softer entry pricing.
Ioco / April Road guide →Four things every Port Moody move-up buyer asks about in the first week. The honest answers below.
School District 43 (SD43) operates all PM public schools. The headline catchment for most premium move-up addresses is Heritage Woods Secondary. Elementary catchments include Aspenwood, Heritage Mountain Elementary, Pleasantside, Moody Elementary and École Glenayre Elementary. Middle: Eagle Mountain Middle or École Moody Middle School of the Arts. The other secondary anchor is Port Moody Secondary — SD43’s district-wide IB Diploma hub since 1986. Always verify your address with the SD43 locator.
The Inlet is the city’s organizing feature. Rocky Point Park + the pier + Shoreline Trail + the Old Mill Boathouse run the waterfront from Moody Centre east. This is the daily-life amenity that the Port Moody premium is paying for — not just the breweries, the whole walkable-Inlet life. Heritage Mountain addresses are 5–10 minutes by car to the trail head.
Brewers Row along Murray Street is the brewery-district identity (verified list of breweries on the dedicated guide). Newport Village + Suter Brook deliver the daily groceries / dining / medical anchor on the Inlet Centre side. Heritage Mountain residents drive 5–10 minutes down for the Friday night walk; Klahanie and Suter Brook residents are on foot.
Port Moody has two stations on the Evergreen Line: Moody Centre (brewery district) and Inlet Centre (Newport Village + Suter Brook). Downtown Vancouver is reachable via the Millennium Line (TransLink’s Trip Planner gives exact times for your trip); driving time varies a lot with traffic, so check Google Maps at the hour you’d travel. Highway 1 access via Barnet Highway and United Boulevard. Most Heritage Mountain addresses are a short drive from the nearest station.
The K–12 catchment ladder
For most move-up families the school catchment is the deciding variable. Six schools form the Port Moody ladder for the Heritage Mountain corridor and the central city: Aspenwood + Heritage Mountain Elementary at K–5, Eagle Mountain Middle at 6–8, and Heritage Woods Secondary at 9–12, with Port Moody Secondary as the city-wide IB alternate and École Glenayre Elementary as the K-entry French Immersion host.
The Heritage Mountain anchor elementary — feeds the Heritage Woods Secondary ladder.
See PM schools →Heritage Mountain’s second K–5 catchment elementary — established community feeder.
See PM schools →Port Moody’s K-entry Early French Immersion host school — west-side Glenayre anchor.
See PM schools →Purpose-built middle for the Heritage Mountain corridor — the bridge to Heritage Woods.
See PM schools →Urban-forest campus + 325-seat theatre — the resale magnet anchoring Heritage Mountain pricing.
See PM schools →SD43’s district-wide IB Diploma Programme hub since 1986 — central Port Moody secondary.
See PM schools →Catchments shift. Always verify any specific address against the official SD43 school locator before relying on it for a purchase decision.
Full Port Moody schools hub →Three of the Tri-Cities’ strongest move-up markets. They overlap on price band but diverge sharply on character, age, walkability and the actual move-up math. Below is the side-by-side most move-up buyers actually need before they commit.
| Factor | Port Moody | Burke Mountain | Coquitlam (city-wide) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detached HPI (September 2026) | $1,903,500 | $1,867,100 | $1,584,400 |
| Townhouse HPI | $940,900 | $1,040,600 | $976,600 |
| Headline secondary catchment | Heritage Woods Secondary | Terry Fox Secondary (Burke Middle Secondary opens in 2027) | Mixed: Gleneagle / Centennial / Pinetree |
| Housing stock age | Mostly 1985–2010 + Inlet-centre new build | Mostly 2005–2024 | Range 1960–2024 by neighbourhood |
| Walkability today | Strongest of the three — brewery district + Newport Village + 2 SkyTrain stations | Limited — Burke Village in build-out | Strong at Town Centre; varies elsewhere |
| Move-up sweet spot | Klahanie townhome → Well-priced entry-level Heritage Mountain detached | Burke townhome → Burke detached | Burquitlam condo → Westwood detached |
| Best for | Walkable urban-village + Heritage Woods catchment + Inlet lifestyle | Newer-build move-up families + trail lifestyle | Inventory depth + SkyTrain access + price flexibility |
Port Moody is a strong move-up market. That doesn’t make it the right move-up market for every family. Reading these two columns honestly saves time, stress, and expensive second-guessing.
I live on Burke Mountain, not in Port Moody — and that’s precisely why the Move-Up Specialist practice works across all three Tri-Cities cities. Craig brings 47+ years of Tri-Cities knowledge to every Port Moody move. 4.9 stars across 36+ verified Google reviews. Three below from recent clients on pricing, communication, and follow-through.
“Craig sold my property in just 6 days, which is an incredible feat. After receiving one offer, he quickly reconnected with all the other realtors who had viewed the property, and before I knew it, we had multiple offers—all over asking price!”Heather Fox
“We received seven offers, and Craig held firm on our priorities: no subject to sale and achieving our price. We took the home off the market over Christmas, but behind the scenes Craig continued working. When we re-listed in January, it sold in just three days to buyers he had been nurturing — at the price we wanted.”Jim Turnbull
“Craig worked with my wife and me for over 3 years to find the perfect home. He was endlessly patient with us through the process. Eventually, we found our perfect home and he moved fast to execute on our behalf. He negotiated fairly and thoroughly with the sellers and was our advocate all throughout our first home purchase.”David Catterall
Selling first as part of your move-up?
Personally prepared, not a Zestimate. Your true net sale value plus a real ceiling for the next home, all in one page.
A 20-minute strategy call covers budget, neighbourhoods, timing and the questions specific to your situation — and ends with a written one-page plan. No pressure, no obligation.
4.9 across 36+ Google reviews Top 1% Team — Greater Vancouver REALTORS®, 2023–2025 47+ years in the Tri-CitiesOr call direct: 604-202-6092
Twenty minutes is enough to tell you which Port Moody zone fits your stage of life, which sell-and-buy sequence makes sense for your specific equity profile, and whether to go after Well-priced entry-level Heritage Mountain detached, a Klahanie family townhome, or an Inlet Centre downsize. Or start with an Equity Map if you’re listing first.
4.9 across 36+ Google reviews Top 1% Team — Greater Vancouver REALTORS®, 2023–2025 47+ years in the Tri-CitiesOr call direct: 604-202-6092
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Go deeper · Port Moody cluster guides
City guide
Seven sub-neighbourhoods, full city read, September 2026 GVR® numbers.
Heritage Mountain
The executive hillside + Heritage Woods Secondary catchment guide.
Lifestyle guide
The daily-life read on Heritage Mountain — commute, schools, walkability, trade-offs.
Live MLS® search
Live, filterable Well-priced entry-level Heritage Mountain detached + townhome inventory.
Klahanie / Suter Brook
The Inlet-side master-planned community — family townhomes + Canoe Club + walkability.
Ioco / April Road
The quieter eastern Inlet detached pocket — the value alternative to Heritage Mountain.
Glenayre
West-side established family streets + École Glenayre French Immersion host.
Brewers Row
The Murray Street brewery district — verified breweries + walkable Moody Centre life.
Schools hub
Every PM elementary, middle and secondary, with catchment notes for move-up families.
Best REALTOR®
How Craig works the Port Moody market — criteria, process, recent outcomes.
Heritage Mountain specialist
The Heritage Mountain specialist page — full credentials, area-specific outcomes.
Port Moody runs the highest detached HPI of the three Tri-Cities cities ($1,903,500 in September 2026, -8.4% YoY), with a tighter townhouse band ($940,900) and an apartment market anchored on Suter Brook, Inlet Centre and Newport Village ($676,200). Port Moody’s sales-to-active ratios in September 2026 were 10.8% for detached, 19.0% for townhouses and 14.8% for condos (GVR REALTOR® Report) — not the 2021 frenzy. That makes concurrent sell-and-buy the default path for most Port Moody move-up families, with sell-first reserved for tight margins and buy-first reserved for genuinely irreplaceable properties.
In Port Moody's September 2026 market, concurrent (list + shop with long possession) is the default. Sell-first is safer for tight equity margins and for sellers who can rent or stay with family for a 30–60 day gap. Buy-first works when you have found a genuinely irreplaceable Heritage Mountain or Inlet-view home and have the bridge financing to cover an overlap. The full decision tree is on the /sell-first-or-buy-first-in-coquitlam/ page — the logic is the same for Port Moody.
No. Heritage Mountain is the Port Moody hillside neighbourhood — the executive detached corridor with city and Inlet views. Heritage Woods Secondary is the SD43 grade 9–12 school that serves much of the Heritage Mountain corridor and parts of western Westwood Plateau. The school is the resale magnet that anchors Heritage Mountain pricing; the neighbourhood is where most of the catchment addresses sit. They are connected but not identical — catchment lines do not perfectly match neighbourhood lines.
Three steps. (1) Equity Map on the Klahanie townhome so you know your true net sale value, not a Zestimate. (2) Pre-approval at the Heritage Mountain price point (Heritage Mountain’s detached benchmark is $1,933,800). (3) Sequence the offer-and-list so possession aligns within a 30–45 day window — Heritage Mountain inventory moves fast when priced right, so being set up to tour within 12 hours of a listing hitting MLS® is the operational piece. Bridge financing is the backup if timing slips.
For a Klahanie townhome to Heritage Mountain detached step, budget for: commission on the sale (set in your listing agreement, plus GST), lawyer or notary fees on both transactions, moving costs, property transfer tax on the next purchase, and mortgage discharge fees. PTT follows BC's published rates — 1% on the first $200K and 2% up to $2M — so a $2M purchase pays $38,000. Get written quotes for the rest, and I'll build the full number with you for your actual prices.
Klahanie townhome rows on Klahanie Drive (Canoe Club access, family-fit 3-bed layouts), Suter Brook townhomes (walkable to Inlet Centre SkyTrain and Newport Village), Moody Centre townhomes (newer infill on the brewery-district side), and a handful of Heritage Mountain edge townhomes that share the Heritage Woods Secondary catchment. Each has a specific resale profile — I match the building to the family on the call.
Depends on your specific situation. The 2026 market is not the 2021 frenzy — detached HPI is −8.4% YoY across Port Moody, which actually favours move-up buyers because the spread you are crossing (townhome to detached) compresses when both bands ease together. The risk is sequencing, not pricing. A 20-minute strategy call covers your specific timing question with real numbers, not generic advice.
It depends on future appreciation, which no one can promise, plus mortgage paydown; I can model a realistic range for your home. I model this with you specifically on the strategy call against your own purchase price, mortgage, and downpayment.
