These cities have the lowest property taxes in southern Ontario

Prospective homeowners looking to settle in southern Ontario might want to consider how much property taxes will set them back before staking their claim on a dream home.

A newly released report from Zoocasa, a Canadian real estate website, calculated and compared property taxes in different parts of the province. The brokerage looked at the municipal tax rates and average home prices, sourced from each municipality’s website and the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board.

Areas with higher average home prices tend to have lower property tax rates, according to the report, while the opposite is true with more affordable average home prices.

Markham has the lowest property tax rate, at roughly 0.65 per cent or $9,146, while boasting an average home price of about $1.4 million.

All throughout Toronto, from east to west, homeowners pay between $6,870 to $7,971 on their property taxes on average thanks to their roughly 0.67 per cent property tax rate, which is the second lowest in the region. This is despite average home prices sitting at over $1 million. It should be noted, however, Toronto is the only municipality in Ontario to charge a municipal land transfer tax, which comes on top of the provincial land transfer tax.

Meanwhile, Orangeville – with a comparably more affordable average home price of $849,770 – has the highest property tax rate at about 1.35 per cent, setting homeowners back $11,498.

Oshawa has the second highest tax rate at about 1.33 per cent, with homeowners shelling out $11,052 on an average-priced home of $833,714.

The report notes Durham region and Dufferin County are the most heavily-taxed areas, as every Durham region municipality sees a tax rate above one per cent with Brock and Clarington trailing behind Oshawa with a roughly 1.2 per cent tax rate.

These are five cities in southern Ontario with the lowest property tax rates:

• Markham, 0.645017%
• Toronto, 0.666274%
• Richmond Hill, 0.670650%
• Vaughan, 0.682784%
• Milton, 0.703456%

And these are the five cities with the highest property tax rates:

• Orangeville, 1.353041%
• Oshawa, 1.325625%
• Barrie, 1.254822%
• Brock, 1.232517%
• Clarington, 1.174555%

A breakdown of property taxes and average home prices in 32 cities in southern Ontario. (Zoocasa)