Townhouses For Sale in Markham

Rear-lane towns and the family that just outgrew the condo

The typical Markham townhouse buyer is a couple with a young child, or one on the way, moving up from a one- or two-bedroom condo. What they're after is fairly consistent: three bedrooms, a garage, a bit of yard and a school within walking distance. Markham produces that kind of house in volume, mostly as freehold towns where there's no condominium corporation and no monthly fee.

A big share of those towns sit in communities planned around a different idea of the suburb. Cornell, Angus Glen and parts of Greensborough and Berczy were laid out with garages at the back on laneways, porches at the front and parks close by. For a family, that layout means the kids' side of the house faces the street and the cars stay out of sight. It also means a narrow lot, a detached or attached garage at the rear, and sometimes a small courtyard between the two instead of a traditional backyard.

Before you fall for one, picture a winter morning: walking from the back door to the garage, clearing the lane apron, and getting a stroller from the car to the house. Most families adapt quickly. A few find they would rather have the conventional front-garage layout found in other subdivisions.

From 1980s subdivisions to Downtown Markham: how the stock arrived

Markham became a town in 1971 with roughly 56,000 people and has more than quintupled since. The townhouse stock arrived in layers that track that growth.

• 1970s and 1980s. Condominium townhouse complexes and early freehold rows in the established areas around Unionville, Markham Village, Middlefield and Markham's half of Thornhill.
• Late 1990s and 2000s. The new urbanist communities. Cornell was designed in 1994 by Duany Plater-Zyberk, with building starting in 1997. Angus Glen's East Village went up in the late 1990s. Greensborough took off after Donald Cousens Parkway was finished in 2005.
• 2010s to now. Denser three-storey and back-to-back towns near Highway 7 and the 404, including Commerce Valley and the Downtown Markham area, plus the continuing build-out of South Cornell and northern Greensborough.

The era tells you a lot. A 1980s complex will raise status certificate questions about roofs and windows. A 2000s freehold town will raise questions about its furnace, roof shingles and whether the basement has been finished. A recent urban town will raise questions about its common elements corporation and any open warranty items.

Freehold, POTL or condo: reading a Markham listing

Three ownership structures show up side by side here, and the listing's legal description is the place to confirm which one you're looking at.

With a POTL or condo town, have a lawyer review the status certificate, including the reserve fund and budget. With freehold, you are your own reserve fund, so set money aside for the roof and furnace.

Stouffville line trains, the 407 toll and Viva on Highway 7

Markham's commute depends heavily on which side of the city you're on. The Stouffville GO line runs north through the middle, with stations at Unionville, Centennial, Markham and Mount Joy. Families in Cornell, Wismer and Greensborough often pick their street based on how far it is from Mount Joy or Markham GO.

Service on the line has grown over the years, but trains are still less frequent than on the Lakeshore lines, especially off-peak. Check the current GO timetable for the hours you'd actually travel, including the trip home, before choosing a street for its station.

Highway 404 runs along the western edge and connects to the Don Valley Parkway and the 401. Highway 407 crosses the south part of the city and is a toll road. It's the quickest way east or west for many commuters, but the monthly toll bill is a real cost to include in your budget.

York Region Transit's Viva buses run in dedicated rapidway lanes along parts of Highway 7 and connect to the TTC at Finch and Don Mills stations. The Yonge North Subway Extension, now under construction, will end just west of Markham near Highway 7, with a station at Bridge linked to Langstaff GO. It's expected to take about a decade, so it matters most to buyers in Commerce Valley and Thornhill with a long horizon.

Matching a Markham pocket to the stage you're at

First home, no kids yet. Condo townhouses and stacked units near Highway 7, in Commerce Valley and around Downtown Markham, put you close to Viva, the 404 and 407, and the shops and restaurants of the city's core. They're the smallest units in the city but the least car-dependent.

Young family. Freehold towns in Cornell, Wismer, Greensborough and Berczy are where most of these buyers end up. Parks and elementary schools are built into the plan, and Mount Joy and Markham GO are within reach.

Downsizing. Buyers leaving a detached house often look at established complexes in Unionville or Thornhill, where the corporation handles exterior work, or at end units in quieter communities like Angus Glen. Count the stairs: many Markham towns are three storeys.

Schools are run by the York Region District School Board and the York Catholic District School Board. Growth has been fast in the newer communities, so confirm the catchment and whether a new school is planned, using the board's school locator for the exact address.

South Cornell, northern Greensborough and what's still to come

Markham is still adding townhouses, but the space to do it is narrowing. South Cornell, south of Highway 7, started redevelopment in 2022. The northern end of Greensborough was still being built in 2025. York University's Markham campus opened in Downtown Markham in September 2024, which brings more activity and more housing to the Highway 7 corridor.

North of Major Mackenzie Drive, some farmland remains, but the Oak Ridges Moraine and the Greenbelt limit how much can be built. Expect most future townhouse supply to come from infill and denser projects rather than big new subdivisions.

Buying new means dealing with the builder's timeline and the Tarion warranty process, and sometimes moving in while the streets around you are still under construction. Buying resale in an established community avoids that, but at the price of an older house.

Markham, Richmond Hill or Scarborough for the same budget?

Markham buyers almost always look across the borders too. Compared with Scarborough to the south, Markham generally offers newer freehold stock and York Region schools, but with a longer and more car-dependent commute downtown. Compared with Richmond Hill to the west, Markham has more of the planned, rear-lane townhouse communities, while Richmond Hill has stronger GO and subway prospects along Yonge Street.

There's also a difference in what the money buys. In Scarborough, the same budget often goes further on square footage, but usually in an older condominium complex with a fee. In Markham, buyers more often get a newer freehold town with no fee but a smaller yard and more stairs. Neither is better in the abstract. Decide whether the monthly fee or the extra maintenance of freehold ownership fits your budget better, and let that steer which side of Steeles you search.

The live listing counts, medians and days-on-market figures on this page are the best way to compare these trade-offs week to week. They change faster than the character of each community.