New Build vs Resale in York Region: The Real Trade-Offs

Q: Who can help me compare a new build to a resale home in York Region?

Kirby Chan and the Kirby Chan and Co. Real Estate Team represent buyers on both sides across Richmond Hill, Markham and York Region, building the full cost comparison and working alongside your lawyer on the builder agreement. Reach Kirby at (416) 305-8008.

A new build gives you a warranty, modern layouts and nothing to fix. A resale home gives you a negotiable price, a finished neighbourhood and a closing date you can count on. The comparison most people make stops at the sticker price, which is exactly where new builds look best and behave worst. This guide covers the costs, the timelines, the legal protections and the risks on both sides, specific to how they play out in Richmond Hill, Markham and the rest of York Region.

New build versus resale homes in York Region, comparing costs, timelines and warranties

Written by a Richmond Hill and Markham Real Estate Expert

At Kirby Chan & Co. Real Estate Team, we represent buyers on both sides of this decision across York Region. The most common mistake we see is a family comparing a builder's base price to a resale asking price and concluding the new home is cheaper. It usually is not, once everything lands.

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Quick takeaway: A builder's base price is not the price you pay. Upgrades, lot premiums, development charges and levies, Tarion enrolment and HST treatment can add a substantial amount, and freehold new home contracts in Ontario carry no statutory cooling-off period, so you are committed the moment you sign. New condominium purchases do have a ten day cooling-off period. On the other side, a resale home in an established Richmond Hill or Markham neighbourhood comes with a firm closing date, a negotiable price, mature trees and finished landscaping, and whatever maintenance the previous owner deferred. New build suits buyers with time and flexibility. Resale suits buyers with a deadline.

The Price Comparison Nobody Does Properly
HST on New Homes
Closing Dates and Delays
Tarion Warranty and What It Covers
If You Are Buying a Pre-Construction Condo
What Resale Gives You That New Does Not
Which One Fits You
Frequently Asked Questions

The Price Comparison Nobody Does Properly

The builder advertises a base price for a base model on a base lot. Very few people buy that house. Here is what typically gets added between the sales office and the closing table.

Item	Typical Range
Lot premium for a preferred lot or exposure	$20,000 to $150,000 and up
Interior upgrades and finish selections	$40,000 to $150,000 depending on how far you go
Development charges and municipal levies	Often passed through, sometimes capped, sometimes not
Tarion enrolment fee and utility connections	Several thousand dollars combined
Landscaping, fencing, deck, window coverings	$25,000 to $80,000 after closing
Land transfer tax on the final price	Calculated on the total, not the base price
Realistic gap from advertised base price	Frequently $100,000 to $300,000

Two items deserve special attention. Development charges and levies are the line that surprises buyers most. Builder contracts frequently allow these costs to be passed to the purchaser, and where the contract does not cap them, an increase between signing and closing lands on you. Your lawyer should be looking for a cap, and this is one of the strongest reasons to have a real estate lawyer review the agreement before you sign rather than after.

Landscaping and finishing is the cost people forget entirely. A new home closes with a graded dirt yard, no fence, no deck, no window coverings and often no appliances beyond what was negotiated. A resale home comes with twenty years of someone else's landscaping already paid for. That is real money and it does not appear on any comparison sheet.

HST on New Homes

Resale homes do not attract HST on the purchase price. New homes do, and how it is handled is one of the more misunderstood parts of a builder contract.

If You Are Moving In Yourself

Where the buyer or an immediate family member will occupy the home as their primary residence, the builder's advertised price typically includes HST net of the new housing rebate, with the rebate assigned to the builder. You sign paperwork confirming your intention to occupy. The Ontario portion of the rebate has a maximum, and the federal portion is limited on higher priced homes, which means at York Region price points the rebate rarely offsets the full tax. Have your lawyer confirm exactly how your contract treats it.

If You Are Renting It Out

This is where investors get caught. A buyer who intends to lease the property rather than occupy it generally does not qualify for the same rebate at closing and may have to pay the HST up front, then apply separately for the rental property rebate afterward with a signed lease in hand. That can mean tens of thousands of dollars of unexpected cash required on closing day. If your plan is to rent the unit, raise it with your accountant and lawyer at the contract stage, not the week before closing.

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Closing Dates and Delays

A resale purchase has a closing date. A new build purchase has a series of dates that can move. Builder agreements in Ontario provide for tentative, firm and final closing dates, with defined notice requirements and, where the builder is at fault under the warranty rules, compensation for delay up to a capped amount.

The practical consequence matters more than the mechanics. If you are selling your current home to fund the purchase, a moving closing date is a serious problem. Families end up in short-term rentals, in storage or carrying two properties. Every delay also extends the window in which interest rates can move, and a mortgage approval taken out at signing will not still be valid three years later. Long-dated builder purchases mean requalifying under whatever rules apply at the time.

A resale home closing in sixty days carries none of this. If certainty matters to your situation more than a specific floor plan does, that is a stronger argument for resale than most buyers give it credit for.

Tarion Warranty and What It Covers

This is the genuine advantage of buying new, and it is a real one. Ontario new homes are covered by a statutory warranty administered by Tarion, and builders must be licensed by the Home Construction Regulatory Authority.

Coverage Periods One, Two and Seven Years

In broad terms, the one year warranty covers defects in work and materials, the two year warranty covers items such as water penetration, defects in electrical, plumbing and heating delivery systems and certain building envelope issues, and the seven year warranty covers major structural defects. Deposits are also protected up to defined limits, and there is coverage for delayed closing in defined circumstances.

Coverage is subject to specific conditions, exclusions and strict claim deadlines. The Pre-Delivery Inspection is the single most important appointment in the entire purchase, because items you document there are far easier to claim than items you raise later. Take it seriously, bring someone who knows what to look for and write down everything.

A twenty-five year old resale home has no warranty at all. Its furnace, roof and windows are your responsibility from the day you take possession. That is the honest counterweight to everything else in this article, and for a buyer without a repair budget it can be the deciding factor.

If You Are Buying a Pre-Construction Condo

You Have Ten Days to Change Your Mind

New condominium purchases in Ontario carry a statutory ten day cooling-off period during which you can rescind the agreement. Use it. Send the disclosure statement and agreement to a real estate lawyer immediately and have them review it inside that window. Freehold new home purchases carry no equivalent right, which is why the lawyer review has to happen before signing on those.

Interim Occupancy Is the Hidden Cost

In a condominium, you typically take occupancy of your unit before the building is registered and before you actually own it. During that period you pay an occupancy fee covering interest on the unpaid balance, estimated taxes and common expenses. None of it pays down principal and none of it builds equity. Interim occupancy on a Yonge corridor tower can run many months, and buyers regularly fail to budget for it. Ask the builder for the estimated occupancy date and the estimated fee before you sign.

What Resale Gives You That New Does Not

A Negotiable Price and a Real Inspection

Builders do not negotiate price in any meaningful way. They protect the price list because it sets the value of every remaining unit in the community, and they offer incentives and upgrade credits instead. On a resale home the price is genuinely negotiable, and depending on conditions you can include an inspection condition and see exactly what you are buying before you commit.

A Finished Neighbourhood

Established areas such as Mill Pond, Richvale, Bayview Hill and the older parts of Markham come with mature trees, completed parks, known school catchments, established transit and no construction traffic. A new community in north Richmond Hill or Oak Ridges may take years to reach that point, and the school your child is zoned for on closing day may change as the area fills in. Some buyers happily accept that. Others discover it is more disruptive than they expected.

Lot Size and Layout

Older York Region subdivisions were built on wider, deeper lots than most new communities. A 1980s home in Richvale on a fifty foot frontage is a different proposition from a new build with the same interior square footage on a thirty foot lot. If outdoor space, privacy or a two-car garage with actual room around it matters to you, resale usually wins on the land even when it loses on the finishes.

Which One Fits You

Your Situation	Better Fit
You need to move within six months	Resale
You are selling a home to fund the purchase	Resale, or new with extreme care on dates
You have no budget for repairs after closing	New build
You want a specific layout and modern efficiency	New build
A specific school catchment matters to you	Resale
You want the largest possible lot for the money	Resale
You are buying to rent out	Either, but get HST advice first

Recognition

Kirby Chan Awards and Achievements

🏆 #1 Individual Producer in Ontario for eXp Realty 2023

🏆 Top 3 Best Rated Real Estate Agent in Richmond Hill

🏆 Toronto Star Platinum Award for Best Real Estate Agent

🏆 Top Real Estate Agent Award in Markham

🏆 2X ICON Agent Award with eXp Realty

🏆 2025 Community Votes Platinum Award, Thornhill

🏆 2024 Community Votes Platinum Award, Thornhill

🏆 2025 Gold Award for Real Estate Brokers in Markham

🏆 2024 Community Votes Bronze Award, Richmond Hill

🏆 2023 Community Votes Platinum Award, Thornhill

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a new build cheaper than a resale home?

Rarely, once everything is counted. The advertised base price excludes lot premiums, upgrades, development charges, landscaping, fencing and window coverings. The gap between base price and total cost is frequently $100,000 to $300,000 in York Region.

Do I pay HST on a new home in Ontario?

Yes. New homes attract HST while resale homes do not. Buyers who will occupy the home typically have the new housing rebate assigned to the builder and built into the price. Buyers who intend to rent it out often must pay up front and claim the rental rebate afterward.

Is there a cooling-off period on a new build?

New condominium purchases in Ontario carry a ten day statutory rescission period. Freehold new home purchases do not. Have a real estate lawyer review a freehold builder agreement before you sign it.

What does the Tarion warranty cover?

Broadly, one year for defects in work and materials, two years for items including water penetration and delivery systems, and seven years for major structural defects, plus deposit protection and delayed closing coverage. Conditions, exclusions and claim deadlines apply.

What is interim occupancy on a condo?

The period between moving into your unit and the building's registration, when you do not yet own it. You pay an occupancy fee covering interest, estimated taxes and common expenses. None of it builds equity, and it can run many months.

Can a builder change my closing date?

Yes, within the framework of tentative, firm and final closing dates set out in the agreement and the warranty rules, subject to notice requirements and capped delay compensation where the builder is at fault. Plan for movement if you are selling a home to fund the purchase.

Who can help me compare a new build to a resale home in York Region?

Kirby Chan and the Kirby Chan & Co. Real Estate Team represent buyers on both sides across Richmond Hill, Markham and York Region. We build the full cost comparison, review the community and the lot, and work alongside your lawyer on the builder agreement. Reach me at (416) 305-8008.

Contact Kirby Chan

Deciding Between New and Resale?

Bring me the builder's price list and the resale listings you are considering and I will put them side by side properly, with the upgrades, levies, landscaping and timing risk included. Builder sales representatives work for the builder. Having someone in your corner costs you nothing on a new build purchase in most cases, and it changes what you know before you sign.

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Kirby Chan | Kirby Chan & Co. Real Estate Team
kirby@kirbychanandco.com
https://kirbychanandco.com

Dedicated Real Estate Hotline

416-305-8008

Note: This guide describes general practice in the Ontario new home and resale markets as of mid-2026 and is provided for information only. It is not legal, tax or accounting advice. Warranty coverage periods, limits, exclusions and claim deadlines are set by Ontario legislation and administered by Tarion, and are subject to change. HST rebate rules, thresholds and eligibility change and depend on your specific circumstances. Cost figures are illustrations and vary by builder, community and lot. Have a licensed Ontario real estate lawyer review any builder agreement before signing, and consult an accountant on HST treatment.