Housing in Oshawa

Oshawa has the lowest median dwelling value in the GTA and the second-oldest housing stock after Toronto, with a quarter of it built before 1961 and another third between 1961 and 1980. It also has the most renters in Durham, at just over a third of households. Old stock at this price is the region's best value and its biggest inspection risk: knob and tube wiring, galvanised supply lines and original furnaces are all still in circulation here.

Oshawa, in the GTAExplore on Google Maps

People: 175,383
Households: 66,635
Median dwelling value: $695K
Median household income: $86K

What stands out about Oshawa

36% of its households rent, higher than the middle of the 23 municipalities of the GTA at 18%.
29% of its dwellings have four or more bedrooms, lower than the middle of the 23 municipalities of the GTA at 45%.
The median household income is $86,000, lower than the middle of the 23 municipalities of the GTA at $118,000.
6% of its dwellings are reported as needing major repairs, higher than the middle of the 23 municipalities of the GTA at 4%.

What is built here

Detached house: 56%37,000
Semi-detached house: 8%5,330
Row house: 10%6,445
Duplex: 5%3,650
Apartment, under five storeys: 10%6,475
Apartment, five storeys or more: 11%7,590

And how many bedrooms it has

One bedroom: 10%6,740
Two bedrooms: 20%13,395
Three bedrooms: 40%26,810
Four or more bedrooms: 29%19,240

When it was built

The most useful line on this page. Almost everything a home inspection turns up in Oshawa is a function of the decade the house went up in, and so is most of what an insurer asks about.

1960 or before: 24%15,700
1961 to 1980: 35%23,330
1981 to 2000: 20%13,350
2001 to 2010: 10%6,815
2011 to 2021: 11%7,425

What to check before you buy in Oshawa

Raised by the housing stock above, not by any particular house. Each one is a question to ask rather than a problem to expect.

Aluminum branch wiringMuch of this neighbourhood went up between 1961 and 1980, and aluminum branch wiring was common in houses built in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is not a reason to walk away, but it is a reason to have an electrician look, because insurers ask about it by name.
What was added, and whether it was permittedIn a neighbourhood this detached, a large share of the houses have been added to or finished below grade at some point. The City's building records will say what was permitted. An unpermitted addition is not automatically a problem to walk away from, but it is a problem to know about rather than inherit.

What it costs to live here

Owner monthly shelter cost: $1,640
Renter monthly shelter cost: $1,300
Owners with a mortgage: 67%
Households renting: 36%

Shelter cost is the census measure: for an owner it is the mortgage payment, property taxes, condominium fees and utilities together, and for a renter it is rent and utilities. These are medians from 2021, so read them as the shape of the place rather than as a quote.

How people get to work

Car, truck or van: 88%50,150
Public transit: 6%3,570
Walked: 3%1,815

Where these numbers come from

the 2021 Census of Population, tabulated by the Statistics Canada as Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population, with neighbourhood names and boundaries from 2021 Census Subdivision Cartographic Boundary File. Retrieved September 20, 2026. The City publishes both packages with their licence recorded as "Statistics Canada Open Licence".

These are aggregate figures for a whole neighbourhood from a census taken in 2021, so they lag the market and they describe no individual home. Housey is not a real estate board and this is not MLS data: for what a specific house is worth today, ask a realtor.