The one number that explains everything
People assume moving out of the city means paying less. That isn't really what happens, and when the average sale price out here comes back higher than London's, it throws them. The explanation isn't that Middlesex is more expensive. It's that Middlesex and London are selling completely different things.
In the City of London, it's 48.8%.
| Share of all homes | Middlesex Centre | Strathroy-Caradoc | London |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single detached house | 90.6% | 72.6% | 48.8% |
| Row house / townhouse | 3.2% | 3.9% | 13.3% |
| Apartment, 5+ storeys | 0.0% | 0.0% | 21.5% |
| Built 2016–2021 | 10.5% | 12.1% | 6.7% |
| Average household size | 2.8 | 2.5 | 2.4 |
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population (Catalogue 98-316-X2021001). The 2026 Census was collected in May 2026; dwelling-type results aren't published until 2027, so these are the current official figures.
An average that includes 21.5% high-rise apartments and 13.3% townhouses is not measuring the same thing as an average made up almost entirely of detached houses on their own lots. Comparing the two headline numbers tells you nothing useful. Compare a detached house to a detached house and the picture changes completely — and that comparison is the one worth doing before you decide anything.
Flip that around if you're the one selling: a London detached is exactly the scarce thing everyone above is competing for, and that scarcity is your leverage. We run London sales too — the same free valuation covers both ends of the move.
One more figure worth sitting with: 12.1% of Strathroy-Caradoc's homes and 10.5% of Middlesex Centre's were built between 2016 and 2021, against 6.7% in London. Roughly one home in nine out here is nearly new. That's a different kind of buying decision — newer builds, newer mechanicals, and often a warranty still in play.
What's actually being built
Kilworth is where the volume is right now. Sifton Properties has approval from council, granted 22 April 2026, for a development at 10242 Glendon Drive of roughly 900 to 975 homes — though the zoning amendment is currently under appeal at the Ontario Land Tribunal, so that one isn't settled. In Komoka, Renwick Estates has draft approval for 163 single-detached lots plus a medium-density block and is in engineering review.
If you have kids, this is the one to know about: a new Catholic elementary school with a five-room childcare centre is under construction on Crestview Drive in Kilworth — a $20.6 million build with capacity for 424 students, anticipated to open in 2027.
Strathroy-Caradoc is a smaller pipeline, but it is not a still one. The largest file we're currently following there is a redline revision to the Sifton subdivision (SC1901 / ZBA 8-2024), whose evaluation report went to council on 15 June 2026 and states 229 new homes. Alongside it sit zoning amendments, an Official Plan amendment and minor variances. The Strathroy page has the current count.
Schools — and why "check with the board" is real advice
Most agents tell you to confirm the school catchment and it sounds like a legal hedge. It isn't. On 25 June 2024 the Thames Valley District School Board approved new boundaries for Delaware Central and Parkview public schools, effective September 2025, moving some Komoka and Kilworth students from one to the other. Boundaries here genuinely move.
A few things worth knowing before you start looking:
- Kilworth has no school of its own. Parkview Public School, at 10008 Oxbow Drive in Komoka, serves both Komoka and Kilworth.
- Mount Brydges is served by Caradoc Public School on Bowan Street.
- Ilderton and Arva feed into Medway High School.
- Strathroy has Strathroy District Collegiate Institute on Second Street, with Mary Wright and North Meadows among the elementary schools.
Check any specific address with the board directly — Thames Valley's school locator for the public board, and the London District Catholic board's own locator for Catholic schools. Both boards state plainly that their online tools aren't to be relied on for enrolment or busing eligibility, so if the school matters to your decision, phone them before you make an offer. It takes five minutes and it's the cheapest insurance in the whole process.
The honest trade-offs
If a page like this only sells you on the move, don't trust it. Here's the other side.
- You will almost certainly need a second car. These are communities built around driving. There's no meaningful transit between most of them and London.
- Check the commute yourself, at your actual leaving time. Don't take anyone's quoted drive time, including mine — map it on a Tuesday morning in February, not a Sunday afternoon in June.
- Ask how each property is serviced. Municipal water and sewer, or a well and septic system? It varies property to property out here, it changes your maintenance and your financing, and it's a question to ask before you fall in love with a house.
- Servicing capacity is a live constraint in this corridor. Arva has had development frozen since February 2026 under an interim control by-law while the municipality studies sanitary sewer capacity. That's a real thing that happens here.
- Amenities are thinner. Fewer things within walking distance, fewer restaurants, less choice. Some people find that's the point; some find it wears after a year. Be honest with yourself about which you are.
Where this leaves you
Middlesex County's Official Plan, approved with provincial modifications in June 2026, projects the county reaching about 151,500 people by 2056. The growth is planned, not accidental, and it's concentrated in exactly the communities people are asking me about.
None of which tells you whether it's right for your family. That depends on your commute, your kids' ages, what you'd be giving up, and what a detached house here actually costs against what your current place would sell for today. That's a conversation, not a webpage.
Want the numbers for your own move?
Tell me where you are now and what you're looking for, and I'll put together the actual comparison — what your place is likely worth, and what that buys you out here. No obligation, and no pressure to list.
Get a free home valuationOr just call — (519) 902‑9211
Figures on this page come from Statistics Canada's 2021 Census of Population, the published planning records of Middlesex County, Middlesex Centre and Strathroy-Caradoc, and the Thames Valley District School Board, each dated where it appears. Development applications change; school boundaries change; confirm anything you intend to rely on with the municipality or the board. This is general information about the area, not advice on a specific property, and it is not legal, planning or financial advice.