A new report has pointed out that Durham offers the most opportunities to buy a detached home for under $1 million within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
This has, of course, resulted in a noticeable migration to the region, said digital real estate platform Wahi, which analyzed May home sales data to pinpoint which communities had a median price of less than $1 million.
Highlights
- Durham Region had 14 neighbourhoods where the median selling price was below $1 million
- Toronto and York each had one community with a median price of under $1 million for detached homes while Peel had two and Halton had none.
- Only 19 per cent of detached homes that sold in the GTA last month did so for less than $1 million
The Wahi report said the sub-$1-million detached home seems to be facing extinction in the GTA.
However, homebuyers who are willing to keep an open mind about location can still purchase a standalone house in the high-six-figure range, according to Wahi.
“Price can be a barrier that keeps GTA homebuyers from putting down roots in their most desired area, but there are still many neighbourhoods where the dream of a detached home is attainable with a reasonable budget,” says Wahi CEO Benjy Katchen.
Durham Region
House hunters on a budget may want to start their search in Durham, said Wahi. Research suggests many are, as the region has become a magnet for intraprovincial migration. Between 2017 and 2022, Durham experienced a net gain of 45,560 migrants from other parts of the province.
The region’s median detached home price was $1,020,000 in May, but more than a dozen of its neighbourhoods had median selling prices below that level.
Toronto
Detached homes for less than $1 million haven’t quite reached unicorn status in the City of Toronto, but they’re far from the norm. The median price of a standalone house in the city was $1,390,000 in May.
Out of 110 neighbourhoods, Mount Dennis was the lone entry with a minimum of five sales and a sub-$1-million median price tag. The median detached house price in Mount Dennis, which centres around the intersection of Eglington Avenue West and Jane Street, in York, was $930,000, with 10 transactions recorded in May.
York Region
York Region, which borders Toronto to the south and stretches as far north as Lake Simcoe, was the most expensive region in the GTA last month with a median sale price of $1,600,000. However, perhaps surprisingly, it had one sub-$1-million community: Georgina, a town that straddles the northern boundaries of York. Last month, 102 homes changed hands in Georgina, and the median selling price was $888,000.
Peel Region
Peel’s median detached home price was $1,366,000 in May. Brampton, Peel region’s largest city after Mississauga, has some of the GTA’s most affordable condos. The outlook differs for detached homes, although the city was home to Peel’s only two neighbourhoods for sub-$1-million detached homes, according to median price: Brampton West ($990,000) and Central Park Brampton ($998,000).
Halton
Homebuyers sticking to a budget of $1 million are likely going to face an uphill battle in Halton, said Wahi research.
The median price of a detached home in Halton was $1,472,500. Meanwhile, the median prices for each of its four municipalities also surpassed $1 million: Burlington ($1,300,000), Halton Hills ($1,265,500), Milton ($1,328,550), and Oakville ($1,857,500).
Among neighbourhoods with at least five transactions in May, none in Halton had a median price below $1 million.
The survey
Overall, only 19 per cent of the detached homes that changed hands last month in the GTA sold for less than $1 million in May. That’s down slightly from 20 per cent in May 2022. However, nearly 20 communities registered median prices below this threshold. With more local markets entering overbidding territory last month, it’s not clear how long the following neighbourhoods will remain priced below the seven-figure mark.
Wahi looked at home sales at the regional, municipal and, when available, the neighbourhood level to identify communities in which the median sale price for a detached home was less than $1,000,000 in May. Areas with fewer than five transactions were excluded from the calculations.