Richmond Hill · Markham · Unionville, York Region, Ontario
Selling in Richmond Hill, Markham or Unionville?A flat fee, not a commission.
Licensed local agents who list, negotiate and close your York Region home for one flat fee set by its price. Set before you meet your agent. Non-exclusive. Cancel anytime. Paid only at closing.⁶
Not locked in until your home is listed. Cancel from your dashboard.
Markham (about 371,500 people) and Richmond Hill (about 222,000) are neighbouring cities in York Region, just north of Toronto along Highway 404, Highway 407 and Yonge Street, and Landian works across both, from historic Unionville in Markham to Oak Ridges and Lake Wilcox in Richmond Hill, with licensed local agents. Sellers list on the MLS with a licensed local agent for one flat fee set by the home's price, not a commission: $8,999 flat for a home around $950,000. $11,999 flat for a home around $1,400,000. $19,999 flat for a home around $2,200,000. The fee is shown before you meet the agent, written into your agreement, and paid only at closing. Buyers get a buyer's agent on the same schedule, based on the price of the home they buy, usually covered by the seller's contribution; anything the seller contributes above it comes back as a rebate or closing credit where allowed. Fees are in Canadian dollars.⁶
Richmond Hill and Markham at a glance
Two of York Region’s biggest cities, side by side on Highway 404. Between the 2016 and 2021 censuses Markham grew 2.9% and Richmond Hill 3.6%, against 5.7% for the region, and in both cities about six in ten residents are immigrants. York Region’s official plan prepares for about 2.06 million people and 989,200 jobs by 2051.
Markham
City in York Region
Residents
371,504
StatCan estimate, July 1, 2025
Median home value*
$1,100,000
Homeowners
81.7%
Detached houses
56.2%
Condominium homes
21.0%
Immigrants
58.6%
Richmond Hill
City in York Region
Residents
222,031
StatCan estimate, July 1, 2025
Median home value*
$1,200,000
Homeowners
78.2%
Detached houses
56.7%
Condominium homes
20.1%
Immigrants
58.2%
York Region
Regional Municipality of York
Residents
1,299,177
StatCan estimate, July 1, 2025
Median home value*
$1,100,000
Homeowners
82.2%
Detached houses
61.9%
Condominium homes
16.4%
Immigrants
47.8%
Statistics Canada. Residents are its population estimates for July 1, 2025 (tables 17-10-0155-01 and 17-10-0152-01), which run above the 2021 Census counts of 338,503 in Markham, 202,022 in Richmond Hill and 1,173,334 in York Region. The other figures are from the 2021 Census Profiles: *median value of owner-occupied homes as estimated by their owners, homeowners (share of households that own), detached houses and condominium homes (shares of occupied homes) and immigrants (share of residents in private households). Statistics Canada still lists Richmond Hill as a town; its council adopted the City name in 2019. Values are from 2021; September 2026 prices are under “Why people are buying here now”.
Living in Unionville, Markham, Richmond Hill and Oak Ridges
A mill village with a heritage main street, a tech city with a new downtown, a Yonge Street town with Canada’s largest telescope, and a kettle lake on the Oak Ridges Moraine, all within York Region and a short drive north of Toronto.
Stiver Mill and the old Unionville station
Unionville · Markham
A crooked main street from the mill days
European settlement in Markham began when William Berczy negotiated 64,000 acres of the township with Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe in May 1794, and hamlets such as Unionville grew up at the mill sites along the Rouge River; Union Mills, built in 1841, burned in the 1930s. On September 14, 1871 the Toronto and Nipissing Railway opened its line with stations in Unionville and Markham (City of Markham). The 1871 Unionville station on Station Lane, a federally designated heritage railway station since 1993, now houses community groups beside the red Stiver Mill.
The Unionville Heritage Conservation District, in force since January 6, 1998, protects 210 properties along what its district plan calls a crooked main street, a rarity among Ontario’s straight-line surveys; most of its buildings date from the second half of the 19th century. At the north end, the City’s Varley Art Gallery celebrates F. H. Varley, a founding member of the Group of Seven, whose former home, an 1850s house on Main Street, is now the McKay Art Centre. Toogood Pond Park adds 33 hectares of pond and marsh, and Destination Markham counts Schitt’s Creek and Suits among the shows filmed on Main Street.
Markham’s economic development office counts more than 1,500 tech companies with more than 35,400 tech jobs, over 650 corporate head offices and 9,899 businesses in all, and lists AMD, IBM, Lenovo, Genesys and General Motors’ Canadian Technical Centre among its tech employers. Its life sciences cluster has 202 businesses and 6,902 jobs, with Teva Canada, Kenvue and Astellas Pharma Canada among them. Highway 404 opened in the mid-1970s and sped up the town’s growth (City of Markham).
Markham Centre, which the City calls its new downtown, has Unionville GO station and the Markham Pan Am Centre close at hand. York University opened its 10-storey, 400,000-square-foot Markham Campus there to its first full cohort in fall 2024, planned for 4,200 students in its first phase. At Kennedy Road and Steeles Avenue, on the Toronto line, Pacific Mall has drawn shoppers since 1997 to more than 350 stores and to its Lunar New Year and Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations. Chinese languages are the mother tongue of 37.3% of Markham residents, Cantonese of 21.3% and Mandarin of 14.6% (2021 Census).
Canada’s largest telescope and a mill pond off Yonge Street
Richmond Hill grew up on Yonge Street, the military road John Graves Simcoe planned, partly in Vaughan township and partly in Markham. Its first council met in January 1873, large greenhouses later made it Canada’s “rose capital”, its population passed 200,000 in 2014, and in March 2019 council voted to rename the Town the City of Richmond Hill (City of Richmond Hill). Chinese languages are the mother tongue of 24.9% of residents and Iranian Persian of 9.6% (2021 Census).
The David Dunlap Observatory was completed in 1935, a gift to the University of Toronto from Jessie Donalda Dunlap in memory of her husband, David Alexander Dunlap. Its 74-inch (1.88 m) reflector was then the second largest telescope in the world and is still the largest in Canada. The university sold the site in June 2008; in 2017 the City took over 40 hectares of parkland with the dome and the administration building, and the federal government gave it a national historic designation in 2019. Near the old village core, the 19-hectare Mill Pond Park is named for a sawmill that once used the pond for power, later served as a drinking-water reservoir, and now has a boardwalk, winter skating and a revitalization plan council has approved.
Richmond Hill’s north end sits on the Oak Ridges Moraine, which Ontario describes as an environmentally sensitive landform of about 470,000 acres stretching 160 km from the Niagara Escarpment to the Trent River. Since 2002 the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan, now part of the Greenbelt, has mapped it into natural core, natural linkage, countryside and settlement areas, and planning decisions there must conform to the plan.
Lake Wilcox, in the Oak Ridges community at the headwaters of the East Humber River, is the largest kettle lake on the moraine: 55.6 hectares of water up to 17.4 m deep, with 2.9 km of shoreline. Lake Wilcox Park, once Sunset Beach Park, has a waterfront promenade and boardwalk, a splash pad, a skate park and beach volleyball courts beside the Oak Ridges Community Centre. Swimming is not allowed, because the water is not tested or supervised; the City prefers human-powered boats such as canoes and kayaks.
What the numbers say about York Region’s two big southern cities this fall.
A subway on the way
Metrolinx is extending TTC Line 1 about 8 km north from Finch Station into Vaughan, Markham and Richmond Hill, with five stations (Steeles, Clark, Royal Orchard, Bridge and High Tech), more than 94,100 daily boardings forecast and trips up to 22 minutes faster. It awarded the tunnelling contract in July 2025; service starts after the Ontario Line is complete.
More choice, softer prices
TRREB counted 729 new listings in Markham and 584 in Richmond Hill in September 2026, against 245 and 172 sales, for 4.1 and 5.6 months of inventory. The MLS® HPI composite benchmark was $1,052,500 in Markham and $1,157,700 in Richmond Hill, down 6.0% and 6.3% from a year earlier, and homes sold for 98% of their listing price on average.
Jobs next door
Markham counts more than 1,500 tech companies with more than 35,400 tech jobs, over 650 corporate head offices and a life sciences cluster of 202 businesses. York University’s Markham Campus opened in Markham Centre in fall 2024.
Room to grow
Statistics Canada estimated 1,299,177 people in York Region on July 1, 2025, and the Region’s official plan prepares for about 2.06 million people and 989,200 jobs by 2051.
What homes here look like
Mostly family houses, owned by the people who live in them. Detached houses are 56.2% of occupied homes in Markham and 56.7% in Richmond Hill, row houses 14.4% and 15.2%, and apartments in buildings of five or more storeys 15.9% and 18.7%; about one home in five is a condominium. 81.7% of Markham households and 78.2% of Richmond Hill households own their home (2021 Census).
The 2021 Census medians were $1,100,000 in Markham and $1,200,000 in Richmond Hill, across every owner-occupied home. In September 2026 TRREB’s median sale price for a detached house was $1,381,500 in Markham and $1,438,500 in Richmond Hill; attached and row townhouses sold for medians of $918,490 and $1,020,000, and condo apartments for $535,000 and $529,250.
Unionville
Nineteenth-century houses on deep lots along Main Street, inside a heritage conservation district where exterior changes, new buildings and demolitions need a heritage permit. Markham has four such districts: Unionville, Markham Village, Thornhill and Buttonville.
Markham
Mostly built since 1980: about four in five homes counted in 2021 date from 1981 to 2021, and 8.6% from 2016 to 2021 alone. 21.0% are condominiums, the highest share of the three columns above.
Richmond Hill
The 1990s left the biggest mark: 23.0% of homes were built from 1991 to 2000, more than in any other period, and 18.7% are apartments in buildings of five or more storeys, the highest share of the three columns above.
Richvale, Richmond Hill
Schools in English and French
Four publicly funded boards serve both cities. The York Region District School Board (YRDSB, English public) calls itself the third-largest school district in Ontario, and the York Catholic District School Board (YCDSB) has about 50,000 students in 86 elementary and 17 secondary schools. In French, the Conseil scolaire Viamonde runs public schools, among them École secondaire Norval-Morrisseau and the elementary Académie de la Moraine in Richmond Hill, and the Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir runs Catholic ones.
Unionville High School is home to Arts Unionville, a four-year program of eight specialized arts courses entered by audition, and Bayview Secondary School in Richmond Hill has been an International Baccalaureate World School since 2003, as are Alexander Mackenzie High School in Richmond Hill and Milliken Mills High School in Markham. For 2026-2027 the YRDSB closed Bayview, Richmond Hill High, Unionville, Markville, Bur Oak, Milliken Mills and Pierre Elliott Trudeau to new transfer requests, and the YCDSB caps St. Augustine in Markham and St. Theresa of Lisieux in Richmond Hill to their own catchment areas, so the address decides the school. Check it with each board’s school finder.
Highways 404 and 407 and Yonge Street tie both cities to Toronto. On the GO Stouffville line, trains run every day; Unionville GO is about 41 minutes from Union Station, and Metrolinx’s GO Expansion plans trains every 15 minutes or better between Union and Unionville, with double tracking along the corridor. On weekdays, Richmond Hill line trains run toward Union Station in the morning and back in the evening, about 50 minutes from Richmond Hill GO, with GO buses at other times (GO schedules effective April 25, 2026).
York Region Transit’s Viva buses run in their own rapidway lanes on Highway 7 and Yonge Street; the 6.5 km Yonge Street rapidway in Richmond Hill, from Highway 7 to Major Mackenzie Drive and from Levendale Road to 19th Avenue, opened in December 2020. The Yonge North Subway Extension will carry Line 1 from Finch Station to High Tech Station in the Richmond Hill Centre area, with connections to Richmond Hill GO trains and to Viva on Highway 7 and Yonge Street.
Rouge National Urban Park, established on May 15, 2015 as Canada’s first national urban park, takes in some of the last working farms in the Greater Toronto Area. On the Markham side, Destination Markham points to the 500-acre Bob Hunter Memorial Park and to the 19th Avenue lookout over the Oak Ridges Moraine, where the Toronto skyline shows on a clear day. The 15 km Rouge Valley Trail follows the Rouge River from Toogood Pond south to Milne Dam Conservation Park, which has 2.3 km of trails and a beach area.
In Richmond Hill, the trails around the David Dunlap Observatory are open year-round, and from late May to late October the dome and the administration building open for self-guided tours, with stargazing nights outdoors in the park. Mill Pond Park has a boardwalk and trail, and Lake Wilcox Park a self-guided tour of 20 native Ontario tree species along its eastern shore.
Buying here: tax, heritage rules and the subway corridor
Ontario charges land transfer tax on every purchase: 0.5% on the first $55,000, 1.0% up to $250,000, 1.5% up to $400,000 and 2.0% above that, plus 2.5% above $2 million where the land holds one or two single-family homes. On a $1,400,000 detached house that comes to $24,475, and first-time buyers may qualify for a refund of up to $4,000. Toronto’s municipal land transfer tax is charged only on purchases in the City of Toronto, so a home on the Markham or Richmond Hill side of Steeles Avenue pays the provincial tax alone. Foreign buyers may also owe Ontario’s Non-Resident Speculation Tax, 25% since October 25, 2022, anywhere in the province.
In Markham’s four heritage conservation districts, owners need a heritage permit for exterior alterations, new construction or demolition, and demolition requests go to Council. Along the Yonge North Subway Extension, Metrolinx has designated transit corridor lands, plus a 30-metre buffer around them, where its permitting and property-access conditions apply. Near the Rouge River, Lake Wilcox or any valley, stream or wetland, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority regulates development such as additions, decks and pools; check an address with its Regulated Area Search before you buy or list.
On a newer home, ask for the original date of possession: Tarion’s one- and two-year warranty coverage runs from that date even if the home has since been sold, and its seven-year coverage for major structural defects ends on the seventh anniversary of it.
What you'd keep in Richmond Hill, Markham and Unionville
Three example prices in Richmond Hill, Markham and Unionville, from a townhouse to a large detached home, and the listing side at each against a traditional 2.5%. One flat fee instead of a percentage: $8,999 flat for a home around $950,000. $11,999 flat for a home around $1,400,000. $19,999 flat for a home around $2,200,000.⁶
On a home around $950,000
Traditional listing side (2.5%)$23,750
1% service (about $3,000 minimum)$9,500
Landian flat fee$8,999
$14,751⁵⁶
more in your pocket than a traditional listing
On a home around $1,400,000
Traditional listing side (2.5%)$35,000
1% service (about $3,000 minimum)$14,000
Landian flat fee$11,999
$23,001⁵⁶
more in your pocket than a traditional listing
On a home around $2,200,000
Traditional listing side (2.5%)$55,000
1% service (about $3,000 minimum)$22,000
Landian flat fee$19,999
$35,001⁵⁶
more in your pocket than a traditional listing
Landian flat fee⁶1% of the price$11,999 flat for a home around $1,400,000. That’s 0.86%, and it never becomes a percentage.
Under $500,000, the fee you see is final. From $500,000, an agent may propose a different fee before you choose them, with a reason and always under 1% of your expected price. You can say no and wait for an agent who accepts.
How Landian works in Richmond Hill, Markham and Unionville
The same three steps as everywhere on Landian, with licensed agents who work Markham, Unionville, Richmond Hill and Oak Ridges.
1
Book online
Enter your address and expected price. Your flat fee shows right away; pick a consultation time.
2
Compare agents
Licensed local agents who accept your fee answer. You compare their cards (rating, experience, response time) and choose.
3
Meet and list
Meet your agent, then decide. Nothing is exclusive until your home is listed, and you can cancel from your dashboard.
Moving to Richmond Hill, Markham and Unionville?
Moving for a job in Markham’s tech corridor, a school program or the subway to come? Tell us which neighbourhoods you are watching and you are matched with a licensed buyer’s agent who works York Region. Budget for Ontario’s land transfer tax, about $24,475 on a $1,400,000 house, alongside your down payment; Toronto’s municipal tax does not apply here.
A licensed buyer's agent for a flat fee from the same schedule, based on the price of the home you buy. The fee is usually covered by the seller's contribution, and anything the seller contributes above it comes back to you as a rebate or closing-cost credit where allowed.¹
Questions about Richmond Hill, Markham and Unionville
How much does it cost to sell a house in Richmond Hill, Markham or Unionville with Landian?
One flat fee set by your home's price, in Canadian dollars, not a percentage: $8,999 flat for a home around $950,000. $11,999 flat for a home around $1,400,000. $19,999 flat for a home around $2,200,000. It is shown before you meet your agent, written into your agreement, and paid from your proceeds at closing. Nothing upfront.
Is the fee the same in Richmond Hill, Markham, Unionville and Oak Ridges?
Yes. The schedule is set by the home's price, not by the town, so a home at the same price pays the same flat fee anywhere in Ontario. Under $500,000, the fee you see is final. From $500,000, an agent may propose a different fee before you choose them, with a reason and always under 1% of your expected price. You can say no and wait for an agent who accepts.
Does Landian have agents in Richmond Hill and Markham?
Yes. Landian has Toronto and Vaughan office pages next door and matches you with licensed local agents within about 120 km of your home, so Markham, Unionville, Richmond Hill and Oak Ridges are covered. Agents who accept your fee answer, and you compare them before anyone calls.
When will the subway reach Richmond Hill?
No date is set. Metrolinx says the Yonge North Subway Extension, about 8 km of TTC Line 1 from Finch Station with five new stations up to High Tech in the Richmond Hill Centre area, will enter service after the Ontario Line is complete. It awarded the tunnelling contract in July 2025 and issued the request for proposals for the stations, rail and systems contract in May 2026.
Do I pay Toronto’s land transfer tax in Markham or Richmond Hill?
No. Toronto’s municipal land transfer tax is charged on purchases in the City of Toronto. In Markham and Richmond Hill you pay Ontario’s land transfer tax only: about $24,475 on a $1,400,000 house, with a refund of up to $4,000 for eligible first-time buyers (Ontario Ministry of Finance).
Can I renovate a house in Unionville’s heritage district?
Yes, with a heritage permit. Owners in Markham’s four heritage conservation districts need one for exterior alterations, new construction or demolition. City heritage staff can approve work that follows the district plan’s policies and guidelines, and demolition requests go to Markham Council.
Which high school will my children attend?
It depends on the address. For 2026-2027 the York Region District School Board closed several high schools here to new transfer requests, among them Unionville, Markville, Bayview and Richmond Hill High, and the York Catholic board caps St. Augustine and St. Theresa of Lisieux to their catchment areas. Check a specific address with each board’s school finder.
Can you swim in Lake Wilcox?
No. Richmond Hill does not allow swimming because the water is not tested or supervised. Fishing is allowed from the platform, human-powered boats such as canoes and kayaks are preferred, and Lake Wilcox Park has a boardwalk, a splash pad and a skate park.
How does buying a home in Richmond Hill, Markham or Unionville work with Landian?
You get a licensed buyer's agent for a flat fee from the same schedule, based on the price of the home you buy. The fee is usually covered by the seller's contribution, and anything the seller contributes above it comes back to you as a rebate or closing-cost credit where allowed.
Your York Region home. One flat fee.
Set before you meet your agent. Non-exclusive. Cancel anytime. Paid only at closing.
⁶Flat listing fee by expected price: $5,999 from $600K; $6,999 from $700K; $7,999 from $800K; $8,999 from $900K; $9,999 from $1M; $11,999 from $1.25M; $14,999 from $1.5M; $19,999 from $2M; lower below $600K. Based on the higher of the price you enter and a third-party estimate of your home’s value, and written into your Client Agreement before you meet an agent. If your listing price falls in a higher step, the fee follows the schedule; it never rises after your home is listed. Under $500K the fee you see is final; from $500K an agent may propose a different amount before you choose them, always under 1% of your expected price. Payable only at closing. Buyer-side fees use the same steps on the price of the home you buy and are usually covered by the seller’s contribution.
⁵Seller savings are estimated against a 2.5% listing-side commission on the final sale price. Commissions are not set by law and are negotiable, so actual savings vary by market, agent and property. The fee shown is the flat listing-side fee for the home’s price, set on Landian before the seller met the agent.
¹Rebates available where jurisdictional laws permit. Excludes AL, AK, KS, LA, MS, MO, OK, OR, TN. Seller credits may be requested as an alternative to rebates in restricted jurisdictions.
