As expensive real estate prices continue to be a challenge in Toronto, hopeful homeowners may find comfort knowing that there are affordable homes out there — they just need to know where to look.
Affordability has always been an issue, not just in Toronto proper, but across the entire region, with more districts surpassing the $1 million mark already this year.
Case in point: for the first time ever, the average home price in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is now the closest it has ever been to reaching $1 million, after hitting an average of $943,710 in July.
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While this is daunting information to digest, there are, in fact, five districts in Toronto proper where you can find an average detached price below $1 million, according to RE/MAX. While this is promising, RE/MAX says this is actually down from 12 markets last year.
Note: The pinpoints are general locations and not exact locations of where a house is currently under $1 million.
Currently, the areas of West Humber, Clairville, Rexdale-Kipling, Elms-Old Rexdale, Thistletown-Beaumonde Heights, and Mount Olive-Silverstone-Jamestown, are the most affordable for detached homes, as average prices reached $814,105 – up 7.3% year-over-year.
This is followed by the areas of Bendale, Woburn, and Morningside, where the average price is $851,321 – up 10.9% year-over-year, and the areas of Malvern and Rouge, where average prices reached $900,125 – up 12.3% year-over-year.
In the areas of Rockcliffe-Smythe, Keelesdale-Eglinton West, Caledonia-Fairbank, Corso Italia-Davenport, and Weston-Pellam Park, prices will be inching higher, with the average detached price reaching $911,833 – up 10.6% year-over-year.
Finally, the areas of Wexford-Maryvale, Clairlea-Birchmount, Kennedy Park, Ionview, Dorset Park, are the pockets closest to the $1 million average mark, with the average price in 2020 reaching $935,655 – up 11.8% year-over-year.
But greater affordability can be found even further from Toronto proper, especially in the 905-area where a single-detached home in 20 of the 30 districts is priced below the $1 million benchmark.
According to RE/MAX, the vast majority of these are located in Durham Region, Simcoe County, and Dufferin County, where average prices range from $552,000 in Brock to $933,000 in Uxbridge. Newmarket, Georgina and East Gwillimbury in York Region, Halton Hills and Milton in Halton Region, and Brampton in Peel are also priced below $1 million.
