Looking for a mortgage broker in Richmond Hill?

Richmond Hill's detached market is above the insured cap. Its townhouses are not.

Richmond Hill recorded one of the highest all-types average prices in the GTA in TRREB's September 2026 Market Watch, at $1,189,203. But that blended figure hides the decision that actually matters, which is whether the home you buy sits above or below the $1.5 million insured mortgage cap.

Detached homes averaged $1,580,643 — above the cap. Above it, mortgage default insurance is unavailable at any price, 20% down is the legal minimum, and your mortgage is uninsured and therefore stress-tested. On an average-priced Richmond Hill detached home, 20% is roughly $316,129.

Attached townhouses averaged $1,068,119 and condo townhouses $717,533 — both comfortably below the cap, where insurance is available and the tiered minimum applies: 5% of the first $500,000 plus 10% of the balance. On a townhouse at the Richmond Hill average, that is about $81,812 rather than $316,129. The segment you choose matters roughly four times more than the neighbourhood you choose.

Richmond Hill is in York Region, so there is also no municipal land transfer tax — you pay the Ontario provincial land transfer tax only, where a buyer in North York or anywhere else inside the City of Toronto pays two.

The townhouse route is a financing strategy, not a compromise

Richmond Hill is one of the few GTA markets where the attached townhouse segment is priced close to the semi-detached segment — $1,068,119 against $1,044,875 in September 2026 — and both sit a long way below the detached average. For a buyer whose constraint is cash rather than income, that is the whole ballgame.

Here is why. On a $1,068,119 townhouse, the insured route is open to you: minimum down payment about $81,812, a CMHC premium on the loan amount, and — importantly — access to a 30-year amortization if either at least one borrower is a first-time buyer or the property is newly built. The longer amortization lowers your qualifying payment, which raises what you can borrow. On a $1,580,643 detached home none of that is available: no insurance, no 30-year insured amortization, and 20% down as the floor.

So the question I ask Richmond Hill buyers early is which constraint is actually binding — the cash, or the income. If it is the cash, the townhouse and condo townhouse segments keep the insured toolkit available to you. If it is the income, going uninsured on a detached home may be the better structure despite the larger deposit, because there is no premium and more flexibility on amortization. There is no universally right answer, and I would rather model both with you than assume.

If you are putting down less than 20%, the CMHC premium runs from 0.60% of the loan up to 65% loan-to-value to 4.00% between 90.01% and 95%. The premium can be added to the mortgage; the Ontario PST on it cannot, and arrives as cash at closing. CMHC also adds a 0.20% premium surcharge when a first-time buyer takes the 30-year amortization.

Land transfer tax in Richmond Hill: provincial only

Richmond Hill is in York Region, outside the City of Toronto, so you pay the Ontario provincial land transfer tax and nothing else. There is no municipal land transfer tax in Richmond Hill, nor in Markham or Vaughan. Toronto is the only municipality in the province with its own.

That is a real cash difference and it is one of the few genuine financial advantages of buying north of Steeles rather than inside the city. It does not, however, offset everything: Richmond Hill's detached average is above the insured cap, so a buyer here may need a far larger down payment than someone buying in Scarborough, where detached homes remain insurable. Lower tax, higher deposit. Compare total cash to close.

First-time buyers claim the Ontario provincial refund of up to $4,000, and the province charges no land transfer tax on the first $368,000 of the purchase price. The Toronto municipal rebate of up to $4,475 is not available here, because the municipal tax is not charged here.

The conditions: at least 18 years old; occupy the home as your principal residence within nine months of the transfer; never have owned a home or any interest in one anywhere in the world; your spouse must never have owned a home anywhere in the world while married to you; and you must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, or become one within 18 months of the transfer. Apply within 18 months of registration. Richmond Hill has a large and diverse immigrant population, and that worldwide ownership test — along with the 18-month citizenship window, which cuts both ways — is where eligibility is usually decided. The new to Canada mortgage page covers how lenders assess newcomer files.

Renewing, switching and using equity in Richmond Hill

Long-term Richmond Hill owners are typically sitting on substantial equity. Most lenders cap a refinance at 80% of the appraised value as standard practice, which sets the ceiling on what you can access — whether through a refinance, a HELOC, or by folding higher-interest balances into the mortgage via debt consolidation. A refinance is always stress-tested at the greater of your contract rate plus 2% or 5.25%, with no exemption.

At renewal the position is more favourable. OSFI does not expect lenders to apply the minimum qualifying rate to an uninsured straight switch — same loan amount, same remaining amortization, no new money — which took effect on 21 November 2024. In practice that means you can usually move your mortgage to a better-fitting lender without re-qualifying. Add to the balance or alter the amortization and it ceases to be a straight switch and the stress test returns. The renewal page covers when to start, which should be well before your maturity date.

On breaking a term early: the penalty is normally the higher of three months' interest or the interest rate differential. Which applies, and how the differential is computed, depends on your lender's method and your contract's exact wording. Anyone quoting you a penalty without reading your commitment is guessing, and on a mortgage this size the guess can be expensive.