Downtown · Halifax Peninsula, Halifax
Downtown Halifax
Waterfront, Citadel Hill and the city's tallest towers
- Young professionals
- Renters
- Car-free living
At a glance
Downtown Halifax is the business, government and tourism core on the harbour, with the waterfront boardwalk, Citadel Hill, office and condo towers, bars and restaurants, and the Halifax Central Library nearby. It is mostly apartments, and renters and young adults make up most of the population. About 1% of homes are detached and 94% are apartments, 87% of households rent, and owners valued the median home at about $532K in the 2021 census.
- Median home value (est.)
- $648K* * est.: 2021 census, indexed to September 2026 · city $423K
- Residents
- 11,050 scaled estimate for mid-2025, up from 9,408 at the 2021 census
- Households renting
- 87% city 43%
- Homes that are apartments
- 94% city 36%
What the numbers mean
- Owners valued the median home at $532K in the 2021 census. Indexed to September 2026 prices with the Halifax-Dartmouth MLS® Home Price Index (+22% since then), that is about $648K, 53% above the Halifax median of $423K. It is an estimate: the index tracks the whole region, not this neighbourhood.
- 87% of households rent, well above the 43% city-wide, so expect a younger, more mobile mix of neighbours.
- Only 4% of residents are under 15, versus 15% city-wide.
- 57% of residents are 20 to 34, versus 23% city-wide. It skews young-professional.
- 94% of homes are apartments (36% city-wide), so a condo is the usual way in.
Who lives here
Share of residents by age, scaled estimate for mid-2025, up from 9,408 at the 2021 census.
Homes
Share of homes by type, scaled estimate for mid-2025, up from 9,408 at the 2021 census.
Estimated property tax1
What owning here costs each year in property tax at the median assessed value. Renters don’t pay it directly, but landlords pass it on.
- Median home
- $7,260 a year about $605 a month on a $648K assessment
Upfront closing costs2
Nova Scotia has no provincial land transfer tax; the Halifax Regional Municipality charges a deed transfer tax of 1.5% of the price. Government fees at the median home price: This uses the census home value indexed to September 2026 prices, so treat it as an estimate.
- HRM deed transfer tax
- $9,720 on $648K
Getting to work by transit3
- Downtown8 min
- Dalhousie University20 min
- Burnside Business Park56 min
- Airport1 h 29 min
Average weekday morning trip by bus, train or both, including walking and waiting. Driving and cycling times aren't included for Halifax.
Everyday walkability4
How Downtown Halifax compares with other blocks in the nine cities, by what is nearby (higher means closer):
Schools5
- Schools here
- 2 public
- Elementary
- 1
- High school
- 1
- Within 2 km
- 18 of its edge
- Saint Mary's Elementary SchoolElementary
- Citadel High SchoolHigh school
1 private school is also mapped here.
The school nearest the house may not be the school your child is assigned to. School boards assign a designated school by street address, and a neighbourhood can be split across several or have none inside its boundary. Use your school board’s school locator with the exact address before you rely on a school.
We don’t rate schools: test results are not comparable across provinces, so a school’s quality is something to ask about on a visit.
Halifax doesn't publish building permits by neighbourhood, so we can't chart construction here yet.
Neighbourhood-level crime figures aren't available for Halifax. Halifax Regional Police and the RCMP don't publish open crime counts by neighbourhood that we can compare across areas. Check Statistics Canada's crime tables for municipality-wide trends. Why this is missing.