Neighbourhood guide  /  Downtown & Central

Kensington Market

Narrow streets, independent shops and small Victorian houses. Very little ever comes up for sale.

Kensington is the least conventional real estate market in central Toronto, and that is precisely the appeal. The streets are narrow, the houses are small and irregular, and almost everything is attached. Much of the residential stock is owned long-term, some of it by families who have held for generations, and turnover is genuinely low — you may wait a year for something to list. What comes up tends to be a two- or three-storey Victorian with a small footprint, often needing work, on a lot that would be considered impossible anywhere else. Buyers who want it want it specifically, and they are rarely comparing it to anything else.

Housing stock

Small attached Victorian houses, some mixed commercial-residential, very few condominiums.

Who buys here

Long-term owners, artists and small-business people, buyers who have wanted the neighbourhood for years.

Transit

Streetcar on Spadina and College; Queen’s Park and St Patrick stations a short walk east.

Worth checking

Parking is scarce to non-existent, and many houses have no laneway access. Confirm what you actually get.

Homes for sale in Kensington Market

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