Photo: Coastal Elite from Halifax, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0Cole Harbour sits 28% above Nova Scotia’s towns on home values
At the 2021 census the median home was worth $320,000, where Nova Scotia’s towns sit at $250,000. Owners gave those values at the May 2021 census; they are estimates, and older than today’s prices. Sales are published too: 8,470 buyers in 2023, at a median $493,000. Cole Harbour shares its sale prices, assessed values, values by property type and building permits numbers with the rest of the city of Halifax.
What Cole Harbour’s homes are worth, three ways
Each source sits beside its own median for Nova Scotia’s towns; none compares across provinces, which value homes in their own ways.
median, owners’ estimate
- Average
- $340K
- Owners
- 6,975
- Nova Scotia’s towns
- $250K
- The typical Canadian town
- $406K
median sale, wider area
- Average sale
- $530K
- ÷ buyers’ income
- 3.3×
- Buyers
- 8,470
- Nova Scotia’s towns
- $205K
all residential
- Nova Scotia’s towns
- $157K
Census 2021 (Statistics Canada); Canadian Housing Statistics Program, tables 46-10-0099 and 46-10-0093; Québec rôle d’évaluation foncière 2026 (MAMH).
On the assessment roll, Halifax’s houses sit at 2.4 times Nova Scotia’s towns
The 2024 assessment roll counts 131,695 homes in Halifax: detached houses make 71% of them, condos 7%.
Median assessment by type, 2024 the tick is the median of Nova Scotia’s towns
Canadian Housing Statistics Program, table 46-10-0093 (2024): residential properties on the assessment roll, vacant land left out. The ticks are the median of Nova Scotia’s towns with their own figure; assessments compare within a province only.
How Cole Harbour’s homes break down, by age and kind
8,410 occupied homes stood in Cole Harbour in 2021, and single-detached houses made up 71% of them. The older half dates from before 2001. A neighbourhood’s counts are summed from small census areas, so its parts can fall a little short of the whole.
Homes by period of construction the tick is the median of Nova Scotia’s towns
Homes by kind
| Cole Harbour | Nova Scotia | Canada | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Condominiums | 4% | 1% | 8% |
| Needing major repairs | 3% | 9% | 6% |
| Too small for the household | 2% | 2% | 3% |
| Households in core housing need | 5% | 8% | 7% |
Census 2021 (Statistics Canada): occupied private dwellings; core housing need as Statistics Canada defines it. Ticks and columns are medians of the towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more.
Halifax permitted 24.4 new homes a year per 1,000, above the 13.5 of Nova Scotia’s towns
Building permits added 26,323 homes in Halifax between 2018 and 2023: some 4,387 a year. Apartments and other multi-unit buildings dominate: only 19% were single-unit, against 63% for Nova Scotia’s towns.
A peak in 2023: 5,355 new homes
New homes a year per 1,000 homes
Slowing: 5,538 new homes in the 12 months to August 2026, 15% fewer
Monthly permits for the Halifax metro area
Statistics Canada, tables 46-10-0087 (building permits by census subdivision, 2018–2023: dwelling units created, new construction and conversions) and 34-10-0292 (monthly, metro areas). Per 1,000: units a year over 2019–2023 against occupied homes in 2021.
Cole Harbour against Nova Scotia’s towns: 28% over the $250,000 median
The census values of Nova Scotia’s towns, 90 of them with 2,500+ people, from dearest to cheapest.
Census 2021, owners’ estimates; towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, no city as a whole, no reserve.
Cheaper next to Cole Harbour: Woodlawn, Manor Park and Eastern Passage
Next to Cole Harbour: 2021 census values and the share of owners.
| Town | Median home value | Average | Owners | km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cole Harbour | $320K | $340K | 83% | |
| Portland Estates | $428K | $416K | 55% | 2.8 |
| Westphal | $348K | $331K | 92% | 3.4 |
| Woodlawn | $300K | $349K | 78% | 4.7 |
| Manor Park | $300K | $329K | 49% | 5.3 |
| Eastern Passage | $250K | $262K | 80% | 5.5 |
| Lawrencetown | $332K | $355K | 96% | 6 |
Census 2021 values; km.
Questions about property prices in Cole Harbour
How many households in Cole Harbour are in core housing need?
Fewer than most: 5% of households in Cole Harbour, where Nova Scotia’s towns sit at 8%.
Is Cole Harbour expensive for Nova Scotia?
Dearer than the middle: Nova Scotia’s towns come to $250,000, Cole Harbour to more.
Can I see individual sales or prices by street?
Only in total: Statistics Canada releases each town’s median and average sale and its number of buyers, never a single sale.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2021 · Statistics Canada, Canadian Housing Statistics Program · Statistics Canada, building permits (tables 46-10-0087 and 34-10-0292). Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).