Photo: Andrea_44 from Leamington, Ontario , Canada · CC BY 2.0Owners in Essex value their homes 42% below the median of Ontario’s towns
Owners put the median home at $400,000 at the 2021 census; for Ontario’s towns the median is $695,000. A census value is an owner’s guess at a selling price in May 2021, and prices have moved since. There is no public record of sale prices in Ontario, which leaves the census value as the guide for Essex.
Two ways to price a home in Essex
Every figure here is compared within the province, against Ontario’s towns, since each province assesses on its own terms. Ontario’s assessments are still on MPAC’s values of 1 January 2016, far below today’s prices, so they compare only with other Ontario towns.
median, owners’ estimate
- Average
- $440K
- Owners
- 7,015
- Ontario’s towns
- $695K
- The typical Canadian town
- $406K
all residential, MPAC 2016 base
- Ontario’s towns
- $232K
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, Essex’s houses sit 24% below Ontario’s towns
The 2024 assessment roll counts 7,865 homes in Essex, detached houses 88% of them.
Median assessment by type, 2024 the tick is the median of Ontario’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 Ontario’s towns with their own figure; assessments compare within a province only.
33% of Essex’s homes predate 1961, against 22% for Ontario’s towns
At the 2021 census, 85% of Essex’s 8,390 occupied homes were single-detached houses.
Homes by period of construction the tick is the median of Ontario’s towns
Homes by kind
| Essex | Ontario | Canada | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Condominiums | 6% | 7% | 8% |
| Needing major repairs | 7% | 6% | 6% |
| Too small for the household | 3% | 5% | 3% |
| Households in core housing need | 4% | 9% | 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.
Permits in Essex ran at 14.3 homes a year per 1,000, near the 15 of Ontario’s towns
From 2018 to 2023, permits in Essex created 673 homes, about 112 a year. Single-unit buildings took 65% of them, where Ontario’s towns built 66%.
A peak in 2022: 177 new homes
New homes a year per 1,000 homes
Slowing: 1,277 new homes in the 12 months to August 2026, 32% fewer
Shared with the rest of the Windsor metro area: monthly permits
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.
Essex is 42% below the $695,000 median of Ontario’s towns
The census values of Ontario’s towns, 871 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.
Essex’s neighbours by home value
The places around Essex at the 2021 census: median and average value, and how many own.
| Town | Median home value | Average | Owners | km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essex | $400K | $440K | 85% | |
| Kingsville | $448K | $514K | 85% | 13.4 |
| Amherstburg | $476K | $522K | 85% | 16.4 |
Census 2021 values; km.
Questions about property prices in Essex
How many households in Essex are in core housing need?
In Essex, 4% of households are in core housing need, against 9% for Ontario’s towns: those whose home costs too much, is too small or needs major repairs, with nothing suitable nearby under 30% of their income.
Is Essex expensive for Ontario?
Cheaper than the middle: Ontario’s towns come to $695,000, Essex to less.
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).