{"id":69019,"date":"2026-08-28T11:28:57","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T18:28:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/liv.rent\/blog\/?p=69019"},"modified":"2026-08-28T11:29:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T18:29:04","slug":"buy-vs-rent-markham-ontario","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/liv.rent\/blog\/renters\/buy-vs-rent-markham-ontario\/","title":{"rendered":"Buy vs. rent in Markham, Ontario: what renters need to know right now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Is it cheaper to rent or buy in Markham right now?<\/h2>\n\n

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Renting costs substantially less per month than buying in Markham right now. As of July 2026, a third-party asking-rent snapshot from rentals.ca put the average rent across all unit types in Markham at $2,215 a month, with one-bedroom units averaging $2,010 and two-bedroom units averaging $2,372. liv.rent’s own Ontario Rent Report does not publish a Markham-specific dollar figure for that same period, though its broader trend data for Markham is covered below. Over the same period, the average Markham home price was $1,131,324, down 9.2% year over year, according to WOWA’s Markham housing market data<\/a> (July 28, 2026). Carrying a home at that price, even with the minimum down payment, costs thousands of dollars more a month than renting a typical unit.<\/p>\n\n

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What the asking-rent snapshot reflects<\/h3>\n\n

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For broader context, liv.rent’s August 2026 Ontario Rent Report<\/a> found that apartments made up 95.65% of active GTA rental listings that month, with one-bedroom units the single most common size at 49.29% of listings. That is GTA-wide listing-mix data from August 2026, not a Markham-specific figure, but it does show that the kind of unit behind the July 2026 rentals.ca snapshot, mostly apartments, matches what is actually on the market across the region. It is still an asking-rent figure, not a measure of what every occupied Markham rental is currently paying.<\/p>\n\n

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What buying a home in Markham actually costs in 2026<\/h3>\n\n

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A buyer purchasing the average Markham home at $1,131,324 needs a minimum down payment of about $88,132, based on federal rules requiring 5% on the first $500,000 and 10% on the portion up to $1.5 million, according to the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada<\/a> (accessed August 2026). That down payment works out to under 10% of the purchase price, which means the loan also needs mortgage default insurance, adding a premium of about 4% of the loan amount, according to NerdWallet Canada<\/a> (accessed August 2026). Financing the resulting loan, including that premium, at 4.09%, the lowest high-ratio five-year fixed rate Ratehub.ca listed<\/a> as of August 26, 2026 (actual offers vary by lender and borrower profile), over a 25-year amortization works out to roughly $5,781 a month in principal and interest. Add Markham’s 2026 residential property tax rate of 0.722889%, according to the City of Markham<\/a> (applied here to the average sale price as an estimate only, since a property’s actual tax bill depends on its assessed value, not its sale price), plus a common budgeting guideline of roughly 1% of a home’s value a year for maintenance, and the estimated carrying cost climbs to about $7,406 a month, before legal fees or other closing costs.<\/p>\n\n

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Side-by-side monthly cost comparison<\/h3>\n\n

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The gap is clear when the two are placed side by side:<\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

\n
Monthly cost item<\/strong><\/td>Renting<\/strong><\/td>Buying (average-priced home)<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead>
Average cost, all unit types<\/td>$2,215<\/td>\u2014<\/td><\/tr>\n
One-bedroom benchmark<\/td>$2,010<\/td>\u2014<\/td><\/tr>\n
Two-bedroom benchmark<\/td>$2,372<\/td>\u2014<\/td><\/tr>\n
Estimated mortgage payment (principal, interest, and insurance premium)<\/td>\u2014<\/td>$5,781<\/td><\/tr>\n
Estimated property tax<\/td>\u2014<\/td>$682<\/td><\/tr>\n
Estimated maintenance (1% guideline)<\/td>\u2014<\/td>$943<\/td><\/tr>\n
Estimated total monthly cost<\/td>$2,215<\/td>$7,406<\/td><\/tr>\n<\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n

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This is not a perfectly matched comparison: the rent figure is a third-party asking-rent snapshot skewed toward apartments and condos, while Markham’s average home price spans detached houses and townhouses too, but the size of the gap still tilts firmly toward renting for anyone not planning to stay long term.<\/p>\n\n

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How has the Markham rental market changed in 2026?<\/h2>\n\n

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Markham’s rental market has broadly softened across most of 2026, though the month-to-month trend has not moved in a straight line. liv.rent’s April 2026 Ontario Rent Report<\/a> recorded the largest year-over-year rent decline of any Ontario market it tracked that month: Markham rents fell 9.3% overall, with one-bedroom units down from $2,295 to $2,007 (12.5%), two-bedroom units down from $2,831 to $2,600 (8.2%), and three-bedroom units down from $3,294 to $3,053 (7.3%). Earlier in the year, liv.rent’s January 2026 Ontario Rent Report had already flagged Markham’s unfurnished two-bedroom rents as down $131 in a single month, the largest drop of any market it tracked, while the province-wide average held near $2,418.<\/p>\n\n

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Rent trends in Markham: what the latest data shows<\/h3>\n\n

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By August 2026, Markham was among the areas recording the strongest month-over-month increases for unfurnished one-bedroom asking rents in the GTA, alongside Ottawa and Brampton, even as Markham’s furnished one-bedroom rents posted one of the sharpest monthly declines that same month, behind only Mississauga, according to liv.rent’s August 2026 Ontario Rent Report. The same August 2026 report placed Markham among the least expensive GTA areas on a per-square-foot basis, alongside Brampton and Vaughan-Richmond Hill.<\/p>\n\n

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Why Markham rents have come down<\/h3>\n\n

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The pullback tracks a broader story: a wave of new condominium and purpose-built rental completions across the GTA has landed at the same time as softer demand, giving renters more negotiating room than they have had in recent years. Toronto’s own average unfurnished one-bedroom rent was down 5.99% year over year, according to liv.rent’s August 2026 Ontario Rent Report, and the Bank of Canada held its policy rate at 2.25% as of July 15, 2026, according to the same report, its sixth consecutive hold.<\/p>\n\n

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Which Markham neighbourhoods to check first<\/h3>\n\n

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Renters comparing options in Markham can browse current listings by neighbourhood on liv.rent, including Downtown Markham’s condo towers, Unionville, Cornell, and Milliken Mills, to see what is actually available in each area right now.<\/p>\n\n

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What does it actually cost to buy a home in Markham in 2026?<\/h2>\n\n

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The average home price in Markham was approximately $1,131,324 as of July 28, 2026, down 9.2% year over year, according to WOWA<\/a>. A separate measure of Markham-area MLS sales put the average at $1,151,594 in June 2026, with 814 new listings and a median of 26 days on market, according to Zolo’s Markham housing market data, a sign of a well-supplied, buyer-friendly market.<\/p>\n\n

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Down payment, closing costs, and Markham’s land transfer tax advantage<\/h3>\n\n

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Federal rules require a minimum down payment of 5% on the first $500,000 of a purchase price and 10% on the portion between $500,000 and $1.5 million, according to the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (accessed August 2026). As a general planning guideline, closing costs typically add another 1.5% to 4% of the purchase price on top of that, according to NerdWallet Canada (accessed August 2026), covering items such as legal fees, title insurance, and land transfer tax. On that last item, Markham has a structural advantage over Toronto. Using Ontario’s marginal land transfer tax rate schedule (Ratehub.ca, June 2026), a $1.2 million purchase in Markham owes about $20,475 in provincial land transfer tax before any first-time buyer rebate, and Markham does not charge a separate municipal land transfer tax. Toronto buyers, by contrast, pay both the provincial land transfer tax and a separate municipal land transfer tax (MLTT), the two calculated on the same marginal rate schedule for homes under $3 million: $20,475 provincially plus another $20,475 municipally, for a combined bill of about $40,950 on a $1.2 million purchase. First-time buyers in Ontario may qualify for a provincial land transfer tax rebate of up to $4,000, subject to eligibility rules, according to Ratehub.ca<\/a> (June 2026).<\/p>\n\n

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How the mortgage stress test affects Markham buyers<\/h3>\n\n

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Every buyer using a federally regulated lender must also qualify at the higher of their contract rate plus two percentage points or 5.25%, under the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions’<\/a> mortgage underwriting guideline, in place as of 2026, regardless of the rate they actually lock in. For a Markham buyer near the average home price, that stress test meaningfully raises the income needed to qualify, even in a market where prices themselves have softened.<\/p>\n\n

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What tenant rights protect Markham renters under Ontario law?<\/h2>\n\n

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Ontario’s Residential Tenancies Act applies to most Markham rental housing, and disputes under the Act are generally handled through the Landlord and Tenant Board. The 2026 rent increase guideline is 2.1%, down from 2.5% in both 2024 and 2025, according to the Government of Ontario<\/a>. That guideline, however, only applies to units first occupied for residential purposes on or before November 15, 2018.<\/p>\n\n

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Is your Markham rental actually rent-controlled?<\/h3>\n\n

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Units first occupied for residential purposes after November 15, 2018 are generally exempt from the guideline, which matters in Markham given how much of the city’s condo and purpose-built rental stock is newer construction. For an exempt unit, a landlord can set the increase amount without a cap, but must still give at least 90 days’ written notice on the correct form and cannot raise the rent more than once every 12 months, according to Tribunals Ontario<\/a>, which oversees the Landlord and Tenant Board.<\/p>\n\n

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\n
Rule<\/strong><\/td>Unit subject to the guideline<\/strong><\/td>Unit exempt from the guideline (first occupied for residential purposes after Nov. 15, 2018)<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead>
Maximum yearly increase<\/td>2.1% for 2026<\/td>No cap set by the guideline<\/td><\/tr>\n
Notice form<\/td>Form N1<\/td>Form N2<\/td><\/tr>\n
Minimum notice<\/td>90 days<\/td>90 days<\/td><\/tr>\n
How often<\/td>Once every 12 months<\/td>Once every 12 months<\/td><\/tr>\n
If it’s disputed<\/td>Tenant can challenge at the LTB<\/td>Landlord must prove the exemption applies at the LTB<\/td><\/tr>\n<\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n

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Deposits and the basics of an eviction notice<\/h3>\n\n

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Ontario only allows landlords to collect a last month’s rent deposit, never a separate damage deposit, and charging one is a rental housing offence under the Residential Tenancies Act<\/a>. It is also worth remembering that a notice is not an eviction: if a tenant does not move out, the landlord still has to apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board for an order before the tenancy can actually end. Renters who want the fuller picture of these rules, including recent legislative updates, can read liv.rent’s Ontario Residential Tenancies Act guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

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How long do you need to stay in Markham to make buying worth it?<\/h2>\n\n

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There is no official Markham-specific breakeven period, but the underlying math offers a useful heuristic: closing costs alone run 1.5% to 4% of the purchase price, and it typically takes several years of equity growth to recover that money before ownership pulls ahead of renting financially.<\/p>\n\n

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Why the horizon matters more in a softer market<\/h3>\n\n

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That math is more sensitive right now because Markham prices are moving in the wrong direction for a quick payback. With the average price down 9.2% year over year as of July 2026, a buyer who purchased even a year ago has little or no equity cushion to show for it yet. How long any individual buyer actually needs to break even still depends on their purchase price, financing, and how long they stay, not just the direction the market average has moved.<\/p>\n\n

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What the GTA-wide outlook suggests for 2026<\/h3>\n\n

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The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board’s<\/a> February 2026 outlook forecast GTA average prices of $1.0 million to $1.03 million for the year, with elevated inventory giving buyers real negotiating power, particularly on condominiums, and just 22% of surveyed residents saying they intended to buy in 2026, down five percentage points from 2025. By July 2026, the GTA’s average resale price had come in at $1,003,956, down 4.5% year over year, the board reported.<\/p>\n\n

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Renting as a way to wait it out<\/h3>\n\n

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For anyone unsure how long they will stay in the region, renting keeps the option open to move without absorbing land transfer tax, legal fees, and a real estate commission on the way out, costs that only make sense to take on once a longer stay is reasonably certain.<\/p>\n\n

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Should you rent or buy in Markham if you’re a newcomer or tech worker?<\/h2>\n\n

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Markham is widely positioned as a technology hub within the GTA. IBM Canada has kept its head office and a large software development lab in the city since the early 1980s, and Markham’s mayor has previously described plans for a major innovation district on city-owned land, according to CBC News<\/a>. That kind of employment base draws a steady flow of newcomers and relocating tech workers into the local rental market every year.<\/p>\n\n

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Renting as a strategic first step<\/h3>\n\n

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The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board’s 2026 research points to continued rental demand across the GTA, supported in part by continued immigration, with many newcomer households renting before transitioning into homeownership. That is GTA-wide context from 2026 rather than a Markham-specific data point, but it applies directly to a city with Markham’s employment base. For someone new to Markham, renting first avoids a large upfront capital commitment and buys time to learn the difference between neighbourhoods like Downtown Markham, Unionville, Cornell, and Milliken Mills before committing to a purchase.<\/p>\n\n

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Building a rental history before you apply for a mortgage<\/h3>\n\n

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A clear rental paper trail can help renters stay organized when preparing financial documents for a future mortgage application. Renters can search verified Markham rentals on liv.rent<\/a>, where landlords go through an identity verification step and leases can be stored digitally, making it easier to keep that history organized later, alongside proof of income, when the time comes to apply for a mortgage.<\/p>\n\n

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What are the real pros and cons of renting in Markham right now?<\/h2>\n\n

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Renting in Markham in 2026 means lower monthly costs, more flexibility to move, and no maintenance bill, but it also comes with real risks that are worth understanding before signing a lease.<\/p>\n\n

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Advantages of renting in Markham in 2026<\/h3>\n\n

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Average asking rents have softened through parts of 2026, giving renters more room to compare listings and negotiate. Renting also comes with no maintenance obligation, and the capital that would otherwise go toward a down payment can be put to work elsewhere while a renter waits for the market, or their own plans, to firm up. For a broader set of guides on navigating this market, liv.rent maintains a library of rental resources<\/a> to help renters compare listings, understand applications, and prepare for their next move.<\/p>\n\n

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Risks: rent control exemptions and N12 notices<\/h3>\n\n

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The biggest risk is specific to Markham’s newer buildings: a unit first occupied for residential purposes after November 15, 2018 carries no cap on rent increases at all. Separately, a landlord (or a qualifying family member) can end a tenancy through an N12 notice for personal use, or for a purchaser’s own use in some circumstances. Under the standard N12 process, that requires giving 90 days’ notice and compensating the tenant with one month’s rent or an acceptable alternative unit. Starting September 21, 2026, under Bill 60, a landlord who instead gives 120 days’ notice will no longer be required to provide that compensation. Either way, a notice on its own is not an eviction: if the tenant does not leave, the landlord still needs a Landlord and Tenant Board order.<\/p>\n\n

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How to protect yourself under the RTA<\/h3>\n\n

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Tenants who suspect a rent increase notice is being applied to a unit that should still be covered by the guideline can challenge it at the Landlord and Tenant Board, where the landlord bears the burden of proving the exemption applies. Keeping a copy of the lease, all notices, and move-in dates on hand makes that case far easier to build if it ever comes up.<\/p>\n\n

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What is the average rent in Markham, Ontario in 2026?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t
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As of July 2026, a third-party asking-rent snapshot from rentals.ca put the average rent in Markham at $2,215 a month across all unit types, with one-bedroom units averaging $2,010 and two-bedroom units averaging $2,372. liv.rent’s own April 2026 Ontario Rent Report separately recorded a 9.3% year-over-year decline in Markham rents, the largest of any Ontario market it tracked that month.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

What is the average home price in Markham in 2026?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t
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The average home price in Markham was approximately $1,131,324 as of July 28, 2026, down 9.2% year over year, according to WOWA. A separate measure of Markham-area MLS sales put the average at $1,151,594 in June 2026, according to Zolo’s Markham housing market data.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

Is my Markham rental rent-controlled in 2026?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t
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If your unit is covered by Ontario’s annual rent increase guideline, the 2026 guideline is 2.1%. Units first occupied for residential purposes after November 15, 2018 are generally exempt from the guideline, and for those units a landlord can set the increase amount, provided they give at least 90 days’ written notice on the correct form and do not raise the rent more than once every 12 months.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

Does Markham have a municipal land transfer tax like Toronto?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t
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No. Markham buyers pay only the provincial land transfer tax. Using Ontario’s rate schedule (Ratehub.ca, June 2026), a $1.2 million home in Markham owes about $20,475 in provincial tax before any rebate, while the same home in Toronto owes both the provincial land transfer tax and a separate municipal land transfer tax, each calculated on the same rate schedule: $20,475 provincially plus $20,475 municipally, for a combined bill of about $40,950. First-time buyers in Ontario may qualify for a provincial rebate of up to $4,000, subject to eligibility rules.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

How long do you need to stay in Markham to make buying worth it versus renting?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t
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There is no official Markham-specific breakeven period, but closing costs of 1.5% to 4% of the purchase price typically take several years of equity growth to recover. With Markham home prices down 9.2% year over year as of July 2026, buyers have less of a price-appreciation cushion than in a rising market, though the actual recovery period depends on an individual buyer’s price, financing, and how long they stay.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

Can my Markham landlord evict me in 2026?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t
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A landlord can apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board to end a tenancy for specific reasons, including personal use by the landlord, a purchaser, or a qualifying family member, depending on the notice and circumstances. Standard personal-use notices require one month’s compensation or an acceptable alternative unit. Starting September 21, 2026, under Bill 60, a landlord who instead gives 120 days’ notice will no longer be required to provide that compensation. A notice on its own is never an eviction: if the tenant does not leave, the landlord must still get a Landlord and Tenant Board order.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

What is the Ontario rent increase guideline for 2026?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t
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Ontario’s rent increase guideline for 2026 is 2.1%, down from 2.5% in both 2024 and 2025. It applies only to units first occupied for residential purposes on or before November 15, 2018.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

Is 2026 a good time to rent in Markham instead of buying?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t
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For most renters with a time horizon under five years, yes. Average asking rents have softened through parts of 2026, giving renters more room to compare listings and negotiate, and the average home price of roughly $1,131,324 as of July 2026 requires a down payment and monthly carrying costs well above the average monthly rent.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\n