Buying your first home in Markham

Markham average selling price, TRREB Market Watch put the Markham average at <strong>$1,208,692</strong> for August 2026. For a first-time buyer mortgage that makes the legal minimum down about <strong>$95,870</strong> (5% to $500,000, 10% above, 20% over $1.5M). The same board counted 282 Markham sales in August 2026, with an average LDOM of 33 days. Your own property and balance replace these numbers on the file.

On each market's own cited figure, the legal minimum down is $95,870 in Markham against Vaughan $98,476 (average $1,234,758); Richmond Hill $95,578 (average $1,205,777); Newmarket $79,833 (average $1,048,321). The comparison is the same arithmetic on a different price, which is why moving the search one municipality over changes the file before it changes the rate — lenders price the same product the same way across Ontario.

About <strong>$20,649</strong> at the average. It is paid in cash on closing (or, in Quebec, billed by the municipality afterwards) and cannot be added to the mortgage. An eligible first-time buyer recovers about $4,000 of it through the Ontario relief that applies here. Our <a href="/land-transfer-tax-calculator">land transfer tax calculator</a> runs your own price.

Markham's average price is approximately $1,208,692, so the typical first-time buyer file we see here sits in the $1,027,388–$1,389,996 band. Your specific neighbourhood and property type can move that materially.

On Markham's $1,208,692 average price, a representative first-time buyer file at minimum down works out to about $95,870 down and roughly $5,562/mo (principal + interest at 4.09% over a 30-year amortization), plus about $20,649 in Ontario land transfer tax. Your exact numbers depend on the property and your file — we run them precisely before you commit.

A local broker knows GTA / York's property types and which of our 100+ lenders price first-time buyer files best in Markham — from Unionville and Cathedraltown condos to detached stock — and there's no fee to you on A-lender files. The regional lenders on that panel are listed under the neighbourhood table above.

On the $1,208,692 Markham average, the legal minimum is $95,870 — 7.9%. That is not 5%: Canada's minimum is tiered at 5% on the first $500,000 and 10% on everything above it, so $25,000 plus $70,869. A flat 5% would suggest $60,435, which is $35,435 short of what a lender will actually accept. Anything under 20% down also means a default-insurance premium — 4.00% on this file, or $44,513, financed into the mortgage. We model the insured and conventional paths side by side so the choice is yours rather than the lender's.

Budget roughly $24,069 beyond the $95,870 down payment on a $1,208,692 purchase: $16,649 in land transfer tax after the $4,000 rebate, about $1,800 in legal fees, $350 for title insurance, $500 for an inspection, $3,561 of provincial sales tax on the insurance premium, and around $1,209 in adjustments for prepaid property tax and utilities. Add $300-$500 if the lender orders an appraisal. All of it is cash at closing — the insurance premium itself is the one item that gets financed, and in Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan the tax on that premium specifically cannot be.

Mortgage Squad Advisors is a licensed Ontario mortgage brokerage — FSRA (Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario) Brokerage Licence #13737. All advisors are licensed and FINTRAC-trained, and every recommendation follows FSRA's conduct and disclosure rules.