OakvilleReverseMortgage.ca puts real numbers on downsizing in Oakville, from the commission on the sale to the moving truck, and compares them fairly with staying in your home on a reverse mortgage.
How much does downsizing in Oakville cost?
Downsizing in Oakville costs about $86,800 in this illustrative example: a detached home sold at $1,573,000, Oakville’s September 2026 benchmark (TRREB MLS HPI), and a $700,000 townhouse bought. The example assumes a 4% commission plus 13% HST. Commissions in Ontario are negotiable and set in your listing agreement, so your own figure may be lower or higher.
| Cost | Side of the move | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Commission (4%, assumed) | Sale | $62,920 |
| HST on the commission (13%) | Sale | $8,180 |
| Legal fees | Sale | about $1,200 |
| Ontario land transfer tax | Purchase | $10,475 |
| Legal fees | Purchase | about $1,500 |
| Moving | Move | about $2,500 |
| Total | about $86,800 |
Every dollar of the $86,800 goes to the move itself. New furniture, repairs to the new home and any storage come on top.
The move also frees up money: the gap between the two prices is $873,000 before costs. The freed-up money is yours, with no loan and no interest.
How much is land transfer tax when you buy in Oakville?
Oakville buyers pay only Ontario’s land transfer tax, because the Town of Oakville charges none of its own. On a $700,000 townhouse, the Ontario tax is $10,475. On a $552,100 condo apartment, it’s $7,517, using the Ontario Ministry of Finance rates. The table uses Oakville’s September 2026 benchmark prices (TRREB MLS HPI).
| Home type | Benchmark price | Ontario land transfer tax |
|---|---|---|
| Condo apartment | $552,100 | $7,517 |
| Townhouse | $700,000 | $10,475 |
| Semi-detached and other attached | $981,200 | $16,099 |
| All home types (composite) | $1,128,800 | $19,051 |
Land transfer tax is paid on the home you buy, not the one you sell. A smaller, cheaper home means a smaller tax.
What does a smaller home cost in Oakville?
A smaller home in Oakville still costs a lot. In September 2026, the benchmark townhouse was $700,000, down 8.4% from a year earlier, and the benchmark condo apartment was $552,100, down 6.2%, according to the TRREB MLS HPI tables. A benchmark is the price of a typical home of that type.
Recent sales were close to the benchmark. The median condo apartment sale in Oakville was $537,500 across 29 sales in September 2026, according to TRREB Market Watch.
Buyers had 223 active condo apartment listings in Oakville to choose from that month (TRREB Market Watch, September 2026). The latest price trends are in Oakville house prices for September 2026.
Condo fees are a new monthly cost
A condo apartment or condo townhouse comes with a monthly condo fee, which pays for the building’s upkeep and savings for future repairs. Fees vary from building to building. Ask for the exact fee before you make an offer, and count it as a cost that lasts as long as you own the unit.
How does downsizing compare with a reverse mortgage?
Downsizing spends its cost on day one, while reverse mortgage interest builds over years. The about $86,800 in the example is gone once the move is done. For comparison, $200,000 borrowed through a reverse mortgage at 6.5%, compounded twice a year with no payments, gathers about $75,000 of interest after 5 years and about $179,000 after 10.
| Downsizing example | Reverse mortgage example | |
|---|---|---|
| Paid at the start | about $86,800 | about $2,000 to $3,500 in one-time costs |
| Interest after 5 years | none | about $75,000 |
| Interest after 10 years | none | about $179,000 |
| Money freed up | about $873,000 before costs | $200,000 borrowed |
| Where you live | A new, smaller home | The home you have now |
There are no required monthly mortgage payments on a reverse mortgage; the Town’s tax bill, insurance and repairs still fall to you, the same as after a move.
Any rise in the home’s value can offset some or all of the interest, and across Canada borrowers end up keeping roughly half their equity on average. Your debt can never grow beyond the fair market value of your house at the time the mortgage becomes due, provided the tax bill, insurance and upkeep stay current. All four lenders include it, and it’s typically called the No Negative Equity Guarantee.
Every cost of the reverse mortgage side, including the ones behind the advertised rate, is listed in what a reverse mortgage costs in Oakville. The Oakville reverse mortgage calculator shows the most your own home could provide, and what a move would cost.
When does downsizing fit better than staying?
Downsizing fits better when the house itself is the problem, not the money. A home with more rooms than you use, stairs that have become hard to climb, a yard and roof you’d rather not look after, or a wish to live nearer family are all good reasons to move, whatever the move costs.
When staying fits better
Staying fits better when you want to keep the home and the neighbourhood, and the strain is money: a mortgage still owing, debts, home repairs or the cost of care.
If the property tax bill is the only strain, Halton Region’s deferral and the Town’s rebate may help on their own. Both are explained in Oakville property tax help for seniors.
Both routes, looked at together
A reverse mortgage can also help with a move by paying for part of a smaller home, as long as the new home is your main residence and everyone on title is 55 or older.
Richard Hopkins, Mortgage Broker, compares every reverse mortgage lender in Canada, and sometimes the answer is that a reverse mortgage isn’t the right fit. Help from an Oakville mortgage broker costs nothing to use; the brokerage is paid by the lender after funding, never by you.
The bottom line
Downsizing in Oakville frees up money but spends tens of thousands of dollars on the move itself. Staying with a reverse mortgage keeps you in your home but adds interest year by year. A free estimate shows the reverse mortgage side, so you can weigh both with real numbers.
See a free estimate for your own Oakville home, without any sales pressure.