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.

READ: City Transforming Historical Row Houses in Cabbagetown into Affordable Housing

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.

Real Estate News