Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Permits in Sarnia added just 4.8 homes a year for every 1,000, where Ontario’s towns added 15
Owners valued the median home at $400,000 at the 2021 census, and the average at $436,000. Sale prices aren’t published in Ontario: what owners told the census is the figure to go on for Sarnia. The 2024 property assessment puts the median residential property at $191,000. Ontario still assesses at 2016 values (MPAC’s 1 January 2016 base): a figure to set against other Ontario towns, not against prices.
Sarnia’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. Treat the values as owners’ May 2021 guesses: they are self-reported, and they come from before rates went up.
median, owners’ estimate
- Average
- $436K
- Owners
- 21,865
- 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 Sarnia carry assessments 19% under the middle of Ontario’s towns
Assessors listed 26,605 residential properties in Sarnia for 2024, 81% of them detached houses and 6% 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.
An older stock than most: 36% of Sarnia’s homes go back before 1961 (Ontario’s towns: 22%)
Sarnia had 32,190 occupied homes at the 2021 census, 67% of them single-detached houses.
Homes by period of construction the tick is the median of Ontario’s towns
Homes by kind
| Sarnia | Ontario | Canada | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Condominiums | 4% | 7% | 8% |
| Needing major repairs | 7% | 6% | 6% |
| Too small for the household | 3% | 5% | 3% |
| Households in core housing need | 10% | 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.
The peak came in 2022, when Sarnia permitted 203 new homes
Sarnia issued permits for 929 new homes from 2018 to 2023, or about 155 a year. 42% were single-unit buildings and the rest multi-unit ones, against 66% for Ontario’s towns.
New homes a year per 1,000 homes
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.
Sarnia 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.
Cheaper next to Sarnia: Petrolia
Next to Sarnia: 2021 census values and the share of owners. Sarnia has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 4–22 km out.
| Town | Median home value | Average | Owners | km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sarnia | $400K | $436K | 68% | |
| Point Edward | $400K | $435K | 85% | 3.6 |
| Plympton-Wyoming | $500K | $597K | 88% | 19.6 |
| Corunna | $400K | $466K | 86% | 19.8 |
| Petrolia | $376K | $383K | 79% | 21.3 |
| Enniskillen | $452K | $533K | 86% | 22.1 |
Census 2021 values; km.
Questions about property prices in Sarnia
Is Sarnia expensive for Ontario?
Cheaper than the middle: Ontario’s towns come to $695,000, Sarnia to less.
How many households in Sarnia are in core housing need?
Statistics Canada puts 10% of Sarnia’s households in core housing need, much as for Ontario’s towns (9%).
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).