Photo: JFVoll · CC BY-SA 3.0A home in City Commercial Core is worth 40% less than the middle of Ontario’s towns
The census median was $420,000 in 2021, against $695,000 for Ontario’s towns. No sales are published for towns in Ontario, City Commercial Core included, so owners’ values are the measure. On the 2024 assessment, the middle residential property is valued at $309,000. Ontario still assesses at 2016 values (MPAC’s 1 January 2016 base): a figure to set against other Ontario towns, not against prices. Nobody publishes assessed values, values by property type and building permits for City Commercial Core alone, so this card uses the figure for the city of Kitchener.
City Commercial Core’s homes, by two sources
Two sources, each set against Ontario’s towns only: provinces measure value differently, so they don’t line up across borders. No sale stands behind these values: owners named them at the census of May 2021.
median, owners’ estimate
- Average
- $440K
- Owners
- 390
- 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).
Houses in Kitchener carry assessments 37% over the middle of Ontario’s towns
In 2024, Kitchener had 81,065 residential properties on the roll, detached houses 60% of them and condos 13%.
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.
Since 2001: 46% of the homes in City Commercial Core, where Ontario’s towns have 17%
At the 2021 census, 68% of City Commercial Core’s 1,640 occupied homes were apartments in buildings of five storeys or more. 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 Ontario’s towns
Homes by kind
| City Commercial Core | Ontario | Canada | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Condominiums | 56% | 7% | 8% |
| Needing major repairs | 6% | 6% | 6% |
| Too small for the household | 10% | 5% | 3% |
| Households in core housing need | 18% | 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.
32.5 new homes a year per 1,000 in Kitchener: more than Ontario’s towns (15)
Over 2018–2023, 17,524 homes were permitted in Kitchener, close to 2,921 each year. Apartments and other multi-unit buildings dominate: only 13% were single-unit, against 66% for Ontario’s towns. City Commercial Core doesn’t get its own monthly permits figures; the ones here come from the Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo metro area.
A peak in 2023: 4,095 new homes
New homes a year per 1,000 homes
4,795 new homes in the 12 months to August 2026, down 10% on the year before
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.
City Commercial Core against Ontario’s towns: 40% under 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.
Home values around City Commercial Core
Next to City Commercial Core: 2021 census values and the share of owners.
| Town | Median home value | Average | Owners | km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City Commercial Core | $420K | $440K | 24% | |
| Cedar Hill | $572K | $475K | 29% | 0.6 |
| Central Frederick | $695K | $649K | 45% | 0.8 |
| Mill Courtland Woodside Park | $576K | $562K | 48% | 0.9 |
| Auditorium | $650K | $693K | 60% | 1 |
| Victoria Park | $650K | $726K | 24% | 1.1 |
| Mt. Hope Huron Park | $600K | $601K | 47% | 1.3 |
Census 2021 values; km.
Questions about property prices in City Commercial Core
Is City Commercial Core expensive for Ontario?
Below the norm for Ontario’s towns, whose median home is worth $695,000; City Commercial Core’s is worth less.
How many households in City Commercial Core are in core housing need?
Above the norm for Ontario’s towns (9%): 18% in City Commercial Core, counting the households whose home falls short on cost, size or repair.
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).