Windsor-Essex remains one of Ontario’s most affordable places to buy a home, but finding a property valued below $500,000 has become far more difficult than it was a decade ago. New data from the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) shows 59 per cent of homes in the Windsor area are valued under $500,000 in 2026, down sharply from 99 per cent in 2016. At the same time, 34 per cent of homes in the area are now valued between $500,000 and $750,000. “The market was a lot more affordable about 10 years ago,” said Samreen Al-Taher, a local realtor. Standing in Windsor’s Southwood Lakes neighbourhood, Al-Taher said homes that were selling for roughly $550,000 before the pandemic now commonly sell between $750,000 and $890,000, depending on the property. She said while rising home values have helped many homeowners build equity, they have also made it more challenging for buyers to enter the market. The changing market is also affecting sellers. “Sellers are having a difficult time understanding that the market has changed from ’21,” Al-Taher said, pointing to homeowners who are still pricing their properties based on expectations formed during the peak of the pandemic housing boom. “That’s when we first noticed an influx of GTA people coming down here,” she said. “That price point is still in the back of their head. It’s just our job to make sure that we can keep it in check.” She said those expectations have contributed to homes sitting on the market longer, giving potential buyers more leverage when trying to negotiate the sale price of a home. “Now, we can sit across the table and have a negotiation with the sellers,” Al-Taher said. Across Ontario, the trend has been different. MPAC says homes valued below $500,000 now account for nearly 24 per cent of the provincial housing market, up from about 17 per cent in 2022, reflecting softer housing prices following the market peak in mid-2022. Greg Martino, MPAC’s chief assessor and data officer, said higher borrowing costs, economic uncertainty, inflation, and slower migration out of larger urban centres have all contributed to cooling home values across much of Ontario. He said Windsor has bucked the provincial trend in part because of major local projects — such as the Gordie Howe Bridge and Fanscy Family Hospital — and the region’s continued affordability compared with many other Ontario communities. According to MPAC, the median residential property value in Windsor is about $460,000, compared with approximately $708,000 across the rest of Ontario. Martino noted that affordability is “relative” and means different things to different buyers. “You have to take a look at individual circumstances, purchasing power of individuals and what they’re able to afford,” he said. He added that MPAC’s report is intended to help prospective buyers compare housing values across communities rather than determine whether a specific home is affordable for every household.
