Photo: JFVoll · CC BY-SA 4.0Homes built before 1961 make up 60% of Balfour, against 22% for Ontario’s towns
By the 2021 census, half of owned homes were worth more than $645,000; the average was $604,126. What homes sold for in Balfour isn’t public: no sale figures are released in Ontario. On the 2024 assessment, the middle residential property is valued at $353,000. 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. For assessed values, values by property type and building permits, the only official count covers all of the city of Hamilton, Balfour included.
Two ways to price a home in Balfour
Two sources, each set against Ontario’s towns only: provinces measure value differently, so they don’t line up across borders. These home values were given by owners themselves, in a census taken in May 2021.
median, owners’ estimate
- Average
- $604K
- Owners
- 1,030
- 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).
A detached house in Hamilton is assessed 52% higher than across Ontario’s towns
Of Hamilton’s 178,695 residential properties on the 2024 roll, 71% are detached houses and 6% are condos.
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.
Core housing need: 14% of Balfour’s households, where Ontario’s towns sit at 9%
Of the 1,665 homes people lived in across Balfour at the 2021 census, 78% were single-detached houses. Summed from small census areas, a neighbourhood’s parts may add up to a little less than its total.
Homes by period of construction the tick is the median of Ontario’s towns
Homes by kind
| Balfour | Ontario | Canada | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Condominiums | under 1% | 7% | 8% |
| Needing major repairs | 6% | 6% | 6% |
| Too small for the household | 11% | 5% | 3% |
| Households in core housing need | 14% | 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.
16 new homes a year per 1,000 in Hamilton: in step with Ontario’s towns (15)
Building permits added 20,374 homes in Hamilton between 2018 and 2023: some 3,396 a year. Very few were houses: 15% in single-unit buildings (Ontario’s towns: 66%). Figures for monthly permits are published for the Hamilton metro area as a whole, not for Balfour alone.
A peak in 2023: 5,130 new homes
New homes a year per 1,000 homes
Up 8%: 3,048 new homes in the year to August 2026
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.
Balfour against Ontario’s towns: about level with the $695,000 median
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.
Cheaper next to Balfour: Greeningdon, Hill Park and Bruleville
The places around Balfour at the 2021 census: median and average value, and how many own.
| Town | Median home value | Average | Owners | km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balfour | $645K | $604K | 62% | |
| Greeningdon | $600K | $608K | 55% | 0.7 |
| Hill Park | $600K | $589K | 62% | 0.8 |
| Centremount | $700K | $658K | 63% | 1.3 |
| Buchanan | $700K | $740K | 82% | 1.4 |
| Bruleville | $600K | $614K | 54% | 1.5 |
| Rolston | $650K | $606K | 56% | 1.5 |
Census 2021 values; km.
Questions about property prices in Balfour
Is Balfour expensive for Ontario?
Neither more nor less: Ontario’s towns have a median of $695,000, and Balfour is near it.
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).