Most Markham neighbourhoods were planned. Unionville was not: it was a village long before Markham was a city, and the thing that makes it valuable today is precisely that it was never rebuilt. That history is also why buying here comes with rules that do not apply three streets away.
A Village That Kept Its Main Street
Unionville grew up around Main Street Unionville in the 1800s, and the wood-frame shopfronts along it are the real thing rather than a later reconstruction. The street is a designated heritage conservation district, which is the practical centre of this neighbourhood’s identity: it limits what can be altered, and it is the reason the street still looks like itself after decades of growth around it.
For a buyer, heritage designation is not an abstraction. If you are looking at a property within the district, what you may change about the exterior, from windows to roofline to additions, is governed by the municipality in a way it is not elsewhere in Markham. That is a question for the city’s planning department before you write an offer, not after.
Around the historic core sits Toogood Pond and its trail network, and the Varley Art Gallery, named for Frederick Varley of the Group of Seven. These are the amenities people actually use, and they are a short walk from the older housing stock rather than a drive.
Several Housing Markets Under One Name
“Unionville” is used loosely, and that matters when you are comparing prices. It can mean the heritage village itself, the established detached neighbourhoods around it, or the newer condominium and townhouse development further out toward Highway 7 and the Markham Centre area. These are different products with different buyers.
TRREB put Markham’s September 2026 average at $1,125,353 with a median of $1,051,000, across 245 sales. Those are citywide figures spanning Cornell, Wismer, Milliken and everything else, so they are a starting point for Unionville rather than an answer. The gap between average and median is the useful signal: a relatively small number of high-priced detached sales pull the average up while the middle of the market sits lower, and in a neighbourhood with Unionville’s spread that effect is pronounced.
The Market Markham Is In Right Now
Markham was the tightest of the four markets I work in through September: 4.1 months of inventory, a sales-to-new-listings ratio of 40.5%, and homes achieving 98% of asking in an average of 34 days. It was also the only one of the four where time-on-market did not lengthen compared with August.
Set against Richmond Hill’s 5.6 months or Vaughan’s 42 days on the listing, that is a meaningful difference. A seller in Unionville is operating in the most competitive of these markets, and a buyer here has less room to wait than one looking a municipality north.
Getting Around
Unionville GO station sits on the Stouffville line, which is the practical commuting option into Toronto and a genuine differentiator against neighbourhoods that have no rail at all. Highway 407 runs just south, and Highway 7 carries the Viva bus rapid transit corridor east and west.
Markham Centre, the city’s growing downtown around Warden and Highway 7, is immediately adjacent, which is where most of the new high-density housing in this part of the city is going. Buyers drawn to Unionville for the village should understand that the area around it is intensifying, and buyers drawn by the condominium supply should understand they are buying beside a heritage district that will not be changing.
Who It Suits
Unionville suits buyers who want the walkable, historic street and the pond and gallery alongside it, and who value being near the GO line and Highway 407. It is one of the few places in York Region where “walk somewhere for dinner” is a realistic sentence.
It suits less well the buyer who wants a new build with current layouts and no restrictions on what they can alter, or who wants maximum house for the money, which the heritage premium works against.
What Sellers Should Know Going Into 2026
Markham’s 4.1 months of inventory is the tightest of the four markets, but tight is relative: it is still a market where buyers can choose, and where properly prepared, properly priced homes sell while optimistic ones sit. The 16-day gap between Markham’s average days on the current listing (34) and days on the property overall (50) is what mispricing costs here.
In the heritage district specifically, the buyer pool is smaller and more particular, and documentation matters more than usual: what has been approved, what has been altered, and what the current designation permits. Having those answers ready is worth more here than anywhere else in Markham.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Unionville a good place to buy in Markham?
It is one of the most distinctive, with a genuine historic main street, Toogood Pond, the Varley Art Gallery and a GO station on the Stouffville line. The trade-off is a price premium and, inside the heritage district, real limits on what you can change.
What does the heritage conservation district mean for an owner?
Exterior alterations within the district are subject to municipal heritage rules, so changes that would be routine elsewhere in Markham may need approval. Confirm the specifics with the City of Markham’s planning department before buying or renovating.
How do Unionville prices compare with the rest of Markham?
Markham’s September 2026 average was $1,125,353 with a median of $1,051,000 citywide. Unionville spans everything from heritage houses to new condominiums, so a street-level comparison of recent sales is far more reliable than any citywide figure.
Can I commute downtown from Unionville?
Unionville GO station is on the Stouffville line, and Highway 407 and the Viva corridor on Highway 7 cover road and bus options. It is one of the better-connected parts of Markham.
Is Unionville only old houses?
No. The historic village is the core, but the surrounding area includes established detached neighbourhoods and newer condominium and townhouse stock toward Markham Centre, which is where most new supply is being built.
Considering Unionville specifically? The difference between a heritage-district property and a newer home ten minutes away is large enough that citywide numbers will not settle it. Reach out for buyer representation and we can look at what has actually sold on the streets you are considering, or start with an overview of Markham.