While the price of owning a home in Toronto can be staggering, the property taxes certainly aren’t compared with many other cities in Ontario.
According to figures released by Zoocasa, the property taxes in Windsor are nearly three times higher than in Toronto.
The real estate website ranked 35 cities across the province with Windsor and Toronto finishing at the far ends of the spectrum.
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This means that if you owned a home valued at $500,000 in Windsor, which has a property tax rate of 1.789394 per cent, you would pay $5,873 more than a homeowner in Toronto, which has a property tax rate of 0.614770 per cent.
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Of course, finding a home to buy in Toronto for $500,000 is a whole different story, although that is not how housing values are assessed by municipalities. The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) considers a variety of factors such as sales comparisons, whether there is a basement or a garage, and the size of the lot.
Zoocasa says a property’s comparables are important to keep in mind so homeowners can avoid sticker shock at tax time.
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The report says it is “especially important for homebuyers in rapidly appreciating neighbourhoods; surging local home prices over a short period of time can lead to a shock when the tax bill is opened the following year.”
It notes that property taxes vary from city to city as each municipality sets its own tax rate and makes different choices in regards to which taxes it levies.
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Zoocasa also notes that cities with higher real estate values are able to keep property taxes lower as the rise in housing prices will also generate more revenue.
Given this fact, it seems natural that many of the cities that surround Toronto have the lowest property taxes in Ontario.
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Markham was listed second-lowest (0.659822 per cent) followed by Milton (0.685776 per cent), Richmond Hill (0.688357 per cent) and Vaughan (0.696147 per cent).
At the other end of the spectrum, Windsor was followed by Thunder Bay (1.598484 per cent), Sault Ste. Marie (1.529349 per cent), North Bay (1.501246 per cent) and Sudbury (1.461888 per cent).
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There were 35 cities ranked by Zoocasa and the two cities that shared the middle were Ajax (1.107287 per cent) and Kitchener (1.110840 per cent).
To see where your city ranks, see the list below: