Unionville or Markham Village

The short answer

Both neighbourhoods have a preserved nineteenth century main street, a GO station on the Stouffville line and mature trees. From a distance they look like the same product at two prices.

They are not. Unionville sells setting. Markham Village sells land. Once you understand which of those you are buying, the price gap stops being confusing and starts being a choice.

This post compares the two side by side. For the full picture of each one, including schools, parks and price tables by property type, read our Unionville neighbourhood guide and our Markham Village neighbourhood guide.

The main streets are not doing the same job

Main Street Unionville is a destination. People drive in for it. There are restaurants, an art gallery, festivals and, on a warm Saturday, a genuine crowd. If you live three streets away, that is either the reason you bought or the thing you complain about, depending on your temperament.

Main Street Markham is a working street. Independent businesses, civic buildings, the everyday functions of a town centre. It is pleasant and it is not a tourist attraction, which means it does not bring weekend overflow parking onto the residential streets beside it.

Neither is better. They just produce very different Saturdays.

Housing stock and lot size

This is where the real difference lives.

Unionville runs from heritage properties on and near Main Street, through a large belt of 1970s to 1990s detached homes on good lots, out to newer townhomes and mid-rise condos along the Highway 7 corridor. The spread from the cheapest to the most expensive property in Unionville is enormous.

Markham Village runs from century homes near Main Street, through a deep inventory of 1960s and 1970s detached homes and bungalows, out to newer infill and townhomes on the edges. The older core in particular has frontages and depths that newer Markham subdivisions simply do not offer.

If you are measuring in square feet of land per dollar, Markham Village wins most of the time.

What homes cost

From January to March 2026 TRREB recorded a median of $736,500 across 110 sales in Unionville and $1,209,000 across 26 sales in Markham Village, all property types (TRREB Community Housing Market Report, Q1 2026). The Unionville figure is pulled down by condo apartments, which made up 63 of its sales. For detached homes the order reverses: about $1,654,000 in Unionville on 26 sales against about $1,265,000 in Markham Village on 22 sales.

Rather than a single median, look at property type. Both neighbourhoods have entry stock and premium stock and comparing an entry Unionville condo to a mid market Markham Village detached tells you nothing useful.

In that quarter detached homes traded higher in Unionville and within Unionville the price of a house tends to rise as you get closer to Main Street Unionville and Toogood Pond.

Schools

Unionville High School runs a regional arts programme that admits by audition from across York Region and Bill Crothers Secondary School, also in Unionville, is a sport focused school with its own application process. That reputation is part of what buyers are paying for.

Markham District High School is the main YRDSB secondary option for much of Markham Village.

Both neighbourhoods are served by elementary schools through YRDSB and YCDSB. In either case, confirm the catchment for the exact address with the board in writing. Boundaries are reviewed periodically and a listing description is not a source.

The commute

Unionville GO and Markham GO both sit on the Stouffville line into Union Station. In both neighbourhoods, part of the housing is genuinely within walking distance of the station and the rest is a short drive or a bus connection.

Scheduled weekday morning trains take 41 minutes from Unionville GO and 52 minutes from Markham GO to Union Station (GO Transit timetable, September 2026).

For drivers, Markham Village sits a little closer to Highway 407 and Unionville a little closer to the Highway 7 rapid transit corridor. Neither difference is large enough to decide the question on its own.

The honest trade-offs

Unionville costs more for the same house. You are paying for setting, walkability and reputation. That is a legitimate thing to buy and it is not more square footage.

Unionville gets busy. Festivals, summer weekends and restaurant traffic reach the residential streets. Drive the area on a Saturday in July before you commit.

Markham Village housing is older. Knob and tube wiring, aluminium wiring in some 1970s builds, galvanised plumbing and original windows all show up here. None of it is fatal and all of it belongs in your budget.

Markham Village has builder competition. On the best deep lots in the older core you are bidding against people who intend to demolish the house. If you want to live in it rather than replace it, that can be an expensive fight to join.

Who should buy where

Buy in Unionville if you want to walk to a main street, you commute downtown by train, the school reputation matters to you and you accept that you are paying for location rather than floor area.

Buy in Markham Village if you want land, you are comfortable renovating, you want a quieter weekend and you would rather put the difference into the house than into the postcode.

Look at both if you are somewhere in the middle, which is most people. They are a few kilometres apart on the same train line. Anyone telling you to search only one of them is not paying attention.

If you are downsizing out of a larger, longtime home into either neighbourhood, our downsizing in Markham guide walks through how to plan the timing of the sale and the purchase.

If you are weighing the two for a purchase, our buyer page explains how we search, check and make offers in Markham. When you are ready to talk it through, contact Kirby Chan & Co. and we will walk both neighbourhoods with you.