Hopeful home owners should not mistake lower taxes for pockets of relative affordability, however
Amid widespread concerns about housing costs and interest rates, home buyers in the Greater Toronto Area have access to multiple locales of relative affordability – but these places are not necessarily those where property taxes are the lowest, according to the latest analysis by a leading real estate information portal.
In a study released late last week, Zoocasa evaluated how property tax rates fluctuate between the GTA’s markets by comparing the rates for each locale against the average home price as of June 2018.
An important conclusion that can be derived from the analysis is that home buyers should not mistake areas with lower taxes for places that offer more affordable housing, Zoocasa noted.
For instance, red-hot Toronto – which posted an average home price of $870,559 last month – only has 0.6355054% in property taxes. A buyer purchasing at the average price point will thus have to pay $5,532 in taxes.
In contrast, Orangeville has the highest property tax rate in the GTA at 1.4099%, but only an average home price of $560,735. Overall costs remain far more manageable, despite the taxes clocking in higher at $7,906 (at the average price point).
Read more: Accelerated price growth evident in 75% of Toronto markets – study
Other high-cost markets with low property tax rates include:
- Markham - 0.6938% ($6,762 in tax vs. $974,626 average June 2018 price)
- Milton - 0.6979% ($4,896 in tax vs. $701,595 average June 2018 price)
- Richmond Hill - 0.7176% ($7,418 in tax vs. $1,033,754 average June 2018 price)
- Vaughan - 0.7281% ($6,850 in tax vs. $940,866 average June 2018 price)
Meanwhile, other GTA markets with high tax rates are:
- Oshawa - 1.4069% ($7,249 in tax vs. $515,261 average June 2018 price)
- Brock - 1.2860% ($7,490 in tax vs. $582,455 average June 2018 price)
- Clarington - 1.2228% ($6,516 in tax vs. $532,908 average June 2018 price)
- Whitby - 1.18090% ($8,023 in tax vs. $679,406 average June 2018 price)
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