Last year, the average price of a detached house in the GTA broke through the million dollar barrier. This spring, it’s the turn of the semi-detached houses. An average semi in central Toronto sold for $1,025,000 in March. Semis in the east and west ends are not that high. And most semis in the 905 area are selling below $600,000. Still, it all shows what market demand can do.
About half the resale homes in the GTA are detached houses, while semis make up less than 10% of the total. (The rest are condo apartments and townhouses.) Millennials are entering the housing market in a big way, and what they’re finding is a shortage of family-sized housing, at any price. For many first-time buyers, the only option is to recalibrate their choice of locations. This may be why prices are shooting up across the region – in Durham, York, Peel and Halton. Prices in those communities are rising at least as steeply as those in the City of Toronto.
For the record, the average selling price of all homes in the GTA is now headed towards the $750,000 mark (about $100,000 higher than a year ago.) In the chart above, the gap between the lines is getting wider. Historically, price increases in Toronto hovered around 6% per year. In each of the past two years, various regions and categories have seen price increases between 10% and 20%. That may not be sustainable as a trend, but it’s also not likely to be reversed. Toronto real estate is going through a transformational change, as people change their perception of the urban region we call the GTA.
In a rapidly changing market, you need smart, timely advice, whether you’re a buyer or a seller. We’re available to help… You can email us, or ask for James and Joanne at 416-483-8000.
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