Markham Real Estate Market Heating Up

Why is the Markham Residential Real Estate Market So Hot?

Just the headlines tell the story of the record-breaking real estate markets across Canada, especially in Vancouver and Toronto:

Unless you were in the Toronto housing market of the late 1980s, you haven’t seen anything like what we are experiencing right now. And if the headlines don’t convince you, maybe the hard numbers will:

  • Since 1996, historic average home prices have risen in Toronto and the GTA every year except 2009 (which was a result of the 2008 recession). That’s 20 years of non-stop (almost) increases in home prices.
  • 2015, the 19th year of real estate growth, was one of the best ever, with high single-digit and low double-digit increases in home sales in every month of the year.
  • 2016 is starting out better than 2015, with more record home sales in the first quarter of the year and a 16.2% increase year-over-year in March, the most recent reporting period.

The Markham Real Estate Market

While all those numbers for Toronto and the GTA are very impressive, they are consistently eclipsed by the numbers coming out of Markham.

A recent example tells us that the 16.2% increase in home sales across the GTA in March takes second place to Markham’s 17.4% increase in the same time period. That’s 28.4% higher than the record Toronto numbers that everyone’s talking about.

Why Does Markham Outperform the Rest of the GTA?

Of course there are many answers, including the fact that Markham is an established community, offers a wide range of municipal services, has a great employment base, features many highly-regarded schools and is a very safe place to live. But those who live here and those who want to move here already know that – it’s why they’ve chosen Markham as a place to call home.

When you compare Markham’s residential real estate to Toronto’s and other GTA markets, you spot a number of other reasons why the Markham market is one of the hottest in the area.

  1. Proximity to Toronto – Many house hunters are looking further and further away from the downtown T.O. core to find more affordable homes. While Markham offers all the amenities people look for in suburban homes, you don’t have to spend your life commuting to downtown if you live here.
  1. Relative Value – Yes, you heard it here first. While it has a reputation for being a highly desirable community, Markham’s real estate still provides very high value. When you compare house prices inside Toronto, not very far from Markham, with our prices and the quality of homes here, you’ll wonder why even more people don’t want to make the move north.
  1. Cultural Diversity – Markham is Canada’s most diverse community. That means that people of all backgrounds and cultures feel welcome, which increases the demand for homes in the area.
  1. Schools – Many new Canadians place a high value on school rankings, and Markham just happens to have some of the top schools in the province. This has made us an immigration destination.

Markham was a high demand area well before the record real estate sales began. And that demand seems to grow in step with the increase in sales and prices.