Downsizing in Markham: A Complete Guide to Costs, Areas and Timing

If you have owned your Markham home for decades, the rooms that once held a full house now hold quiet and the upkeep takes more out of you than it used to. Maybe you are reading this on behalf of a parent, weighing how to raise the idea without pushing. Either way, the questions are the same: where would you go, what would it cost and how do you move from one home to the other without being caught holding both. This guide works through all three.

Is it time to downsize

Downsizing usually comes into focus gradually rather than all at once. A few signs come up again and again with people we talk to in Markham.

• Whole rooms, often a former children’s bedroom or a basement, sit unused most of the year.
• Maintenance, whether that is a lawn, a roof, gutters or stairs, has become more work than the house is worth to keep.
• Property tax and utility costs on a larger home take up more of the monthly budget than they used to.
• A change in health, mobility or a partner’s needs makes a single-level home or a building with an elevator more practical.
• The equity in the house is significant and could fund retirement, help family or simply reduce financial stress.
• You are spending money maintaining space you no longer use rather than spending it on the things you actually want to do.

None of these signs mean you have to act immediately. Some people downsize the year they retire. Others wait until a specific event, such as a health change or a spouse passing, forces the decision. Either way, it helps to think about the decision on your own timeline rather than someone else’s, including well-meaning adult children. If several of these signs sound familiar, request a free downsizing plan and we will help you think through timing before you commit to anything.

Where downsizers move in Markham

Most people leaving a larger house in Markham move into one of three property types: a condo apartment, a freehold or condo townhouse or a bungalow. Each comes with a different lifestyle and a different price.

Condo apartments suit people who want to eliminate exterior maintenance entirely and who value being close to transit, shops and restaurants. Downtown Markham and parts of Unionville have the largest concentration of newer condo buildings in the city.

Townhomes, whether freehold or condo, offer more space than a condo apartment, often with a small yard, while still reducing the maintenance load of a large detached house. Cornell, Berczy Village and Markham Village have a good supply of townhomes built over the last two decades.

Bungalows keep everything on one level, which matters for people planning for mobility later in life, without moving into an apartment building. Older bungalows are more common in Markham Village, Thornhill and parts of Unionville, though supply is limited and they can carry a premium for the lot.

TRREB median prices by property type, Markham, August 2026

The table below uses TRREB’s Market Watch figures for the City of Markham as a whole for August 2026. These are medians across the city rather than for any single neighbourhood and they will not match every listing you see.

Property type	Sales	Average price	Median price
Detached	137	$1,611,773	$1,488,000
Semi-detached	15	$958,133	$945,000
Freehold townhouse	39	$1,031,119	$995,000
Condo townhouse	28	$812,567	$750,000
Condo apartment	57	$638,332	$563,800

Source: TRREB Market Watch, August 2026, City of Markham.

Prices by neighbourhood, January to March 2026

TRREB publishes neighbourhood level figures quarterly rather than monthly, so the table below covers an earlier period than the citywide table above and should not be compared directly against it. These are medians across all property types sold in each community.

Neighbourhood	Median price, all property types	Sales
Unionville	$736,500	110
Thornhill (Markham side)	$663,000	13
Cornell	$977,000	40
Markham Village	$1,209,000	26
Berczy Village	$1,232,000	31

Source: TRREB Community Housing Market Report, Markham, Q1 2026. Unionville and Thornhill show lower medians largely because a large share of their sales were condo apartments, which fits the pattern of these areas being popular downsizing destinations. Downtown Markham is not reported by TRREB as its own community. Our Unionville neighbourhood guide and Downtown Markham neighbourhood guide go into more detail on each area and the full list is on our neighbourhoods page.

What downsizing actually costs

Downsizing is not free, even though it usually releases equity overall. Four categories of cost come up in almost every move.

Land transfer tax on the home you buy

Ontario’s land transfer tax applies to whatever you buy next, calculated on the purchase price in tiers. The first $400,000 of any purchase always produces the same $4,475 in tax, made up of 0.5 percent on the first $55,000, 1.0 percent on the next $195,000 and 1.5 percent on the next $150,000. Above $400,000, the rate is 2.0 percent, rising to 2.5 percent on the portion over $2,000,000 for a property with one or two single family residences.

Here is a worked example for a condo apartment purchased at the Markham median of $563,800.

1. First $55,000 at 0.5 percent: $275
2. Next $195,000, up to $250,000, at 1.0 percent: $1,950
3. Next $150,000, up to $400,000, at 1.5 percent: $2,250
4. Remaining $163,800 at 2.0 percent: $3,276
5. Total: $7,751

The same calculation on the townhome median of $995,000 comes to $16,375, while the citywide all property types median of $1,095,000 comes to $18,375. Our land transfer tax guide covers the full rate table and more worked examples.

Legal fees and other closing costs

Both your sale and your purchase need a real estate lawyer. Each transaction has its own legal fee, disbursements and adjustments, such as reimbursing the seller for property tax already paid for the year. Our closing costs guide lists what to expect to pay on top of the purchase price. Our property tax guide explains how the tax adjustment at closing works.

Moving and preparing the house for sale

Moving costs scale with how much you are keeping and how far you are going. Preparing the house you are leaving for sale is usually a smaller cost than people expect, since a house that has been lived in for decades needs different and often more modest preparation than a newer home. Small, targeted repairs tend to matter more than a full renovation.

Ongoing costs at the new home

A condo or condo townhouse adds a monthly maintenance fee in exchange for the building covering items such as exterior maintenance, building insurance and sometimes heat or water. Before you buy, ask for the status certificate, which sets out the current fee, the reserve fund and any planned special assessments. Our condo status certificate guide explains what to look for. A bungalow or townhome does not have a condo fee, but property tax and utilities continue as with any freehold home. Our property tax guide explains how that bill is calculated.

Tax planning when you downsize

Two tax topics come up consistently for downsizers in Markham.

The principal residence exemption. The Canada Revenue Agency’s principal residence exemption can eliminate the capital gain on the sale of a home that has been your principal residence for every year you owned it. The exempt portion is calculated using a formula based on the number of years the property was designated as your principal residence out of your total years of ownership. Only one property per family unit can be designated as a principal residence for a given tax year. Since dispositions after 2016, you must report the sale of your principal residence on your tax return, generally on Schedule 3, even when the exemption covers the entire gain. This matters most if you or a spouse owned a second property, such as a cottage, at any point, since that can affect how much of the gain on either property is exempt. Confirm your own situation with an accountant before you sell.

Markham’s seniors property tax programmes. The City of Markham runs a Low-Income Seniors Property Tax Assistance Program for owners who are 65 or older, own and live in their Markham home as their principal residence and receive the federal Guaranteed Income Supplement. It also runs a Seniors and Low-Income Tax Deferral Program, which can let an eligible senior defer the tax increase for the year, provided the home is the owner’s principal residence, deferred and outstanding taxes together do not exceed 75 percent of the assessed value and the application is filed by the City’s deadline. If you have deferred taxes under this programme, remember that they come due when the property is transferred, so factor that into what you will net from the sale. Our property tax guide has the full detail on both programmes and how the tax bill itself is calculated.

Sell first or buy first

This is the decision most downsizers wrestle with. There is no single correct answer.

Selling first removes the risk of owning two properties at once and tells you exactly how much you have to spend on the next home. A free home valuation is a good place to start that number. The tradeoff is that you may need to negotiate a longer closing to give yourself time to find and close on the next place. You may instead need to arrange temporary housing if that is not possible.

Buying first lets you move once, directly into the new home, without a gap. The tradeoff is financial: until your current home sells, you may be carrying two properties. You may instead need short-term bridge financing to cover the gap between the two closing dates. Bridge financing is offered by some lenders specifically for this situation, but terms, availability and cost vary by lender. Ask your own mortgage lender what they can offer and what it would cost before you count on it.

A third option many downsizers in Markham use is negotiating a longer closing on the sale, sometimes 60, 90 or more days, which is often worth more to a buyer than a small difference in price. That extra time can give you the runway to buy without needing bridge financing at all.

The step-by-step downsizing process

1. Decide the destination first. Condo, townhome, bungalow or a move outside Markham entirely. Until this is settled, the rest of the timeline cannot be planned, because what you are buying determines how much notice you need and how flexible your closing can be.
2. Set a realistic timeline, in writing. Map out the sell first versus buy first decision, the bridge financing question if it applies and a fallback plan if the second half of the plan slips. Having it on paper is more useful than carrying it in your head.
3. Start decluttering early. This is the step that most often determines how long the whole process takes. Give yourself more time than feels necessary, work through the house room by room and decide early what is worth selling, donating or keeping. Professionals who specialize in downsizing contents can help with sorting, donation coordination and, where needed, estate content clearing. We can connect you with people who do this work.
4. Prepare the house for sale. A home that has been lived in for decades usually needs a different kind of preparation than a newer one. Work through what is actually worth spending on, room by room, rather than assuming a full renovation is needed. Small repairs and a thorough clean often do more for a sale price than large projects.
5. List and coordinate the two closings. Whether you are selling first or buying first, the closing dates need to work together, with a plan for what happens if either side of the transaction moves.
6. Move and settle in. Plan the move itself, including movers, utility transfers and, for a condo, any building move-in requirements such as elevator booking, which your property manager can confirm.

Decluttering and the contents of the house

For most people, this is the part of downsizing that stalls the whole process, not the market or the financing. A few things help.

• Start earlier than feels necessary. Sorting decades of belongings takes longer than almost anyone expects.
• Separate decisions from logistics. Deciding what to keep is an emotional process; arranging pickup, donation or sale is a practical one. Trying to do both at once usually slows everything down.
• Get help where it makes sense. There are professionals in the Markham area who specialize in downsizing and estate content sales. They can often move faster and more objectively through a house than family members can.
• Deal with sentimental items last. Practical categories, such as duplicate kitchenware or furniture that will not fit the new space, are usually easier to sort through first.

If the sale is part of settling an estate rather than your own move, our estate sales service covers how we work with an executor, the estate lawyer and the contents of the house together.

The family and emotional side

Leaving a home you raised a family in or simply lived in for decades carries weight a purchase price cannot capture. It is fine for the decision to take longer than a purely financial calculation would suggest. It is also fine to feel two things at once, looking forward to less maintenance while also feeling loss about the house itself. Adult children are often part of these conversations and that can genuinely help with the practical side. At the same time, the pace and the final decision belong to the person who owns the home. A good advisor should be willing to say plainly if a timeline being pushed by someone else does not suit the person actually making the move.

How our team helps

We sequence the sale and the purchase so you are not stuck carrying two properties or without a place to live. We work to your pace rather than a fixed listing calendar. If you need several months to be ready, we plan around that instead of pushing you to list sooner. We tell you plainly which repairs are worth doing before a sale and which are not, based on what buyers in your specific area are paying for. We connect you with people who handle downsizing contents and estate clearing so that part of the process has a realistic schedule instead of becoming an emergency near your closing date. If you want to talk through what downsizing would look like for your own home, contact us and we can go through the numbers and the timeline together.

What to do next

1. Decide on your destination type, whether that is a condo, a townhome, a bungalow or a move outside Markham, since that decision shapes everything else.
2. Get a current estimate of your home’s value and compare it against the TRREB figures above for the property type you are considering buying.
3. Work out the land transfer tax and closing costs on your likely purchase price using our land transfer tax guide and closing costs guide.
4. Ask your accountant whether the principal residence exemption covers the full gain on your sale, particularly if you or a spouse owned a second property at any point.
5. If you are 65 or older, check whether Markham’s seniors property tax programmes apply to you, especially if you currently defer any portion of your tax bill.
6. Start sorting the contents of the house earlier than feels necessary. Ask us to connect you with a downsizing or estate content professional if that would help.

Nothing in this guide is legal, tax or financial advice for your specific situation. Confirm the details that matter most to your own move with your lawyer, accountant or mortgage lender. Contact us when you are ready to talk through your own timeline.