Last Updated on October 24, 2023 by Neil Sharma
Out of 60 areas covered by the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board, only six had detached homes priced below $1 million, according to an analysis by RE/MAX.
They were all in the 905 regions.
“Halfway into 2021 and the Greater Toronto housing market continues to fire on all cylinders,” Christopher Alexander, senior vice president of RE/MAX Canada, said in the analysis. “Overall home sales topped 70,000 between January and June, the strongest first half in the history of the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board, while values smashed through record levels set in previous years. Without a serious influx of new listings to ease the upward pressure on pricing in the coming months, the market will likely continue on this upward trajectory.”
Active listings, of which there were 11,297 in the first half of the year, declined by 35% from the 10-year average of 17,260, pushing up the price of detached homes in 97% of TRREB areas. Almost half of those areas saw values surge by 25% year-over-year.
At 46.4%, Uxbridge saw the most appreciation compared to the first half of 2020, with detached homes rising to $1,365,933 in H1-2021 from $933,368. The second most appreciation occurred in Scugog, where prices rose by 43.9% to $986,878 from $685,828, while Milton, at 34.2%, which drove up prices to $1,314,265 from $979,646, rounded out the top-10.
Accompanying the significant jump in detached home values was increased sales—they were up 175% in Dufferin Grove, Little Portugal, Trinity-Bellwoods, Plamerston-Little Iltaly, Niagara, University, Kensington-Chinatown, Bay St. Corridor, and Waterfront Communities in Toronto’s core. Sales also surged by 109.6% in York Region, 98.2% in Peel Region, and 96.7% in Central Toronto.
The analysis also showed that first-time homebuyers left Toronto to purchase housing further away, while move-up buyers, buoyed by surges to their equity, did the opposite.
“More transit options and hybrid work schedules have made relocation to the city’s outlying areas even more attractive. First-time buyers are feeling the squeeze but are still determined to become homeowners, with many happily travelling further afield to make it happen while working from home. The beneficiaries of the trend have been suburban communities in Durham, Peel, Dufferin County and the most northern part of York Region,” said Alexander.
“While first-time buyers are grappling with supply and demand, existing homeowners have been reaping the rewards as equity gains have soared over the past two and half years. In recent months, many move-up buyers have taken advantage of lower interest rates and those equity gains to trade up to larger homes or neighbourhoods closer to the downtown core—with not too much change to their monthly mortgage payments.”
As frenetic as market activity has been, Alexander believes it’s the calm before the storm.
“The Bank of Canada is committed to holding interest rates at current historically low levels for at least another year. Immigration is expected to bring another 1.2 million permanent residents to the country over the next three years. With all this stimulus at play, comparisons have been made to the Roaring 1920s—let’s just hope that this script has a better ending.”
Neil Sharma is the Editor-In-Chief of Canadian Real Estate Wealth and Real Estate Professional. As a journalist, he has covered Canada’s housing market for the Toronto Star, Toronto Sun, National Post, and other publications, specializing in everything from market trends to mortgage and investment advice. He can be reached at neil@crewmedia.ca.
