Divorce & Real Estate in Markham: Downtown Core to Family Streets

Markham isn’t Toronto’s understudy. If you’re separating here, the market you’re selling into has its own logic: a vertical heart around Downtown Markham / Markham Centre, family-first streets from Unionville to Cornell and Greensborough, and buyer decisions that always fold in 404/407 access and GO service. Those differences matter when you’re choosing between a buy-out and a list-and-sell, setting price, or deciding how to handle showings under stress.

Start with the backdrop. Through late summer 2025, Markham’s market has been active and selective at the same time. Public trackers show a current average sold price around ~$1.14M with a median days on market near ~29–31 days—long enough that pricing discipline matters, short enough that well-prepared listings still move. (Zolo, Wahi) That sits inside the broader GTA pulse: 6,100 sales in July (+10.9% YoY), the strongest July since 2021, while the average price settled near $1.051M (–5.5% YoY) and the HPI composite was down ~5.4%—activity up, buyers still price-sensitive. (Toronto Regional Real Estate Board, BNN Bloomberg)

Markham’s split personality is your strategy. Around Markham Centre, condos and mid-rises trade on building reputation, fees, and status-certificate health; just a few kilometres away, quiet crescents of semis, towns, and detached homes trade on parking, yard utility, and school catchments. The City is actively planning the next phase of Markham Centre (secondary plan, smart city and energy work), and its “new downtown” positioning continues to anchor buyer interest. Treat it like the urban node it is. (Your Voice Markham, downtownmarkham.ca, Markham Business)

Where Markham truly diverges from Toronto is paperwork and closing friction. Buyers here don’t pay Toronto’s Municipal Land Transfer Tax (MLTT) and they aren’t subject to the City of Toronto’s new 10% Municipal Non-Resident Speculation Tax—costs that can tilt a borderline decision toward a Markham address when a purchaser is comparing across the boundary. If you’re fielding offers from both sides of Steeles, surface that math early so no one discovers it at 9:45 p.m. on offer night. (Toronto)

Legal suites are another “Markham-ism” to respect. Two-unit houses must be registered with the City and inspected for building and fire code compliance; the City is also updating policies to enable additional residential units more broadly. If your home includes a suite, say what it is—with documents. “Registered two-unit dwelling with inspection history” is value. “Potential income” without paperwork is a red flag buyers, lenders, and insurers will spot immediately. (City of Markham, Your Voice Markham)

Commuter logic shapes the copy. Many Markham buyers do the route math as they scroll: Unionville, Markham, and Mount Joy GO stations and the 404/407 grid can be the tie-breaker between two similar homes. Without writing a travel brochure, make it easy to see the options and cadence (and avoid promising specific commute times). Link to schedules rather than quoting them, since they change. (GO Transit)

So how do you sell well here—during a separation—without importing a Toronto playbook that doesn’t quite fit?

Price to micro-markets, not to memory. Downtown Markham condos live and die by fee trends, reserve-fund notes, special assessments, and building work; freeholds in Unionville or Berczy get rewarded for roofs/furnaces/electrical, window age, yard utility, and layout for multi-gen life. Because condos across the GTA have generally retraced more than low-rise in 2025, a private buy-out price for a tower unit may look different than a semi a few blocks from a top school. Ask your agent for two equally rigorous files—one for the condo, one for the freehold—so a transfer number isn’t accidentally anchored to the wrong asset type. (Toronto Regional Real Estate Board)

Structure makes the emotions manageable. Use one shared email thread so both spouses receive the same updates at the same time: web traffic, showings, feedback themes, and any proposed tweaks to price or presentation. When offers arrive, circulate full documents simultaneously along with a short, plain-English comparison—price, deposit, conditions and their lengths, inclusions, and closing date. If a pre-emptive lands ahead of an offer night, follow a rule you wrote in daylight: threshold price/terms for considering it, and a commitment to notify registrants if you accelerate. Equal information protects consent and keeps focus on the deal, not the dynamic.

Tell the Markham story buyers actually shop for. In Markham Centre: fee trajectory, reserve-fund health, building projects, elevator bookings, and floor plans that separate bedrooms. In Unionville and cachet pockets: renovation quality, parking, and school rhythm. In Cornell and Greensborough: newer builds, energy efficiency, and bedroom count for growing or multi-gen families. Your listing copy should feel like the buyer’s first debrief, not a hype reel—facts first, then the picture they paint.

If you’re torn between a buy-out and a list-and-sell, let lender math and fresh comps make the call. Consider two appraisals (or one plus a comp audit) for the exact property type. And remember, Ontario gives you a safety valve: it’s common to close now and distribute later by holding net sale proceeds in a lawyer’s trust account until an agreement or order sets the split. Clean closing now, careful allocation later—that’s how you reduce stress without surrendering fairness.

Markham rewards preparation and precision. If you respect the downtown-vs-family-street split, price to the micro-market buyers actually tour, treat suite legality as a disclosure asset (not a footnote), and keep both spouses on the same fact pattern, you’ll turn a hard season into a clean result. Different from Toronto? Absolutely. And that difference, used well, is an advantage.

Information only—Ontario-specific. Please obtain legal/financial advice for your situation.