Sales Momentum Builds Across the GTA as Buyers Return to Well-Priced Detached Homes
Economic uncertainty continues to influence housing activity in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), although the gap between buyer and seller expectations has started to narrow. Well-priced detached properties attracted stronger interest early in the year, and as the delayed spring market gained momentum, several key markets posted double-digit gains in sales activity.
North Toronto Leads the Charge With Double-Digit Sales Gains
Newtonbrook West, Willowdale West, Westminster-Branson, and Lansing-Westgate (C07) ranked among the GTA’s top-performing detached markets in the first half of the year, with sales rising 52.5 per cent. Average price hovered near $1.65 million, drawing purchasers to the affordable North Toronto community, where more than 120 detached homes changed hands, compared with 80 one year earlier. Detached sales in neighbouring C14, including Newtonbrook East and Willowdale East, topped 30 per cent, with more than 100 homes changing hands at the just over the $2 million price point. St. Andrews-Windfields and Bridle Path-Sunnybrook-York Mills (C12) also experienced stronger demand, as affluent buyers capitalized on softer values to trade up. Sales climbed 26.8 per cent, with 71 detached homes sold, up from 56 in the same period in 2025.
While sales activity improved in several pockets, detached housing values softened across most GTA markets. Just four areas, including the Annex/Yorkville/South Hill/Summerhill (C02), and Mount Pleasant East/Yonge-Eglinton (C10), Stonegate-Queensway (W07) and Kingsview Village, the Westway, Humber Heights, Willowridge-Martingrove-Richview (W09) reported year-over-year price gains.
East End Sales Rise but Values Remain Soft Amid Tight Inventory
While detached sales were up in nearly half of the city’s East End communities, average price was soft across the board. According to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) June 2026 Market Report, limited inventory levels have played a serious role, especially in the active E01 (South Riverdale, North Riverdale, Greenwood-Coxwell and Blake Jones), E02 (The Beaches, Woodbine Corridor and East-End Danforth) and E03 (Broadview North, Playter Estates-Danforth, Danforth Village-East York, Woodbine-Lumsden, Crescent Town and O’Connor-Parkview) neighbourhoods, where average sales-to-list price ratios hovered at 106 per cent and 103 per cent respectively in June 2026. Days on the market are amongst the lowest in the Greater Toronto Area in these communities, with the average listing days on market (LDOM) hovering at 11, 12 and 16 days.
Aurora, Richmond Hill and Oakville Drive Strong 905 Performance
In the 905, demand was strongest for detached homes priced between $1 million and $1.5 million. Aurora was a standout, with sales up almost 31 per cent to 200 units and average price hovering at $1.45 million, as buyers sought-out spacious homes on larger lots. Richmond Hill, Newmarket and Markham also recorded double-digit increases, with sales rising 22 per cent, 13 per cent and 10.7 per cent, respectively. Peel Region also posted stronger detached activity, with Brampton, Caledon and Mississauga all reporting year-over-year gains. Brampton led Peel Region with an 11.1 per cent increase. In Durham Region, momentum was more limited, with only Pickering and Scugog among the region’s eight markets reporting modest sales gains.
Affordability Fuels Demand in Toronto’s West End
Affordability remains the primary driver of detached housing activity in Toronto’s West End, where half of the area’s communities continue to offer average prices below $1.25 million. West Humber-Clairville, Rexdale-Kipling, Elms-Old Rexdale, Thistletown-Beaumonde Heights and Mount Olive-Silverstone-Jamestown, comprising Toronto Regional Real Estate Board’s (TRREB) W10 district, led the West End in the first half of 2026 and stood out as one of the top five performing markets overall. Detached sales rose close to 24 per cent year over year, while average price hovered just below $926,000, down from year-ago levels. TRREB’s W05 district, which includes Humberlea-Pelmo Park, Downsview-Roding-CFB, Glenfield-Jane Heights, York University Heights, Black Creek, Humbermede and Humber Summit, followed closely, with detached sales up 23 per cent over year-ago levels.
Large lot frontages ranging from 50 to 60 feet, established neighbourhoods, and proximity to major transportation corridors, including Highways 401 and 400, continue to draw young families to the West End. Turnkey properties remain the most sought-after, with staging playing an important role in helping buyers envision the potential of a home. While there is still occasional interest in the proverbial handyman’s special, fewer purchasers have the financing, time, or appetite to undertake a major renovation.
The West End’s sweet spot remains firmly between $1 million and $1.2 million, although demand has also been healthy at higher price points.
Stonegate-Queensway and Kingsview Village Post Modest Price Gains
In Stonegate-Queensway/Islington-City Centre West (W07), both detached sales and average price moved higher in the first six months of the year. Just over 90 detached properties changed hands between January and June of 2026, up 9.5 per cent from the 84 sales reported during the same period in 2025. Average price, meanwhile, rose more than five per cent to almost $1.75 million. Willowridge-Martingrove-Richview/Kingsview Village-The Westway (W09) also posted modest gains, with detached sales edging up one per cent year over year and average price climbing 2.4 per cent to $1,318,223.
A shortage of homes for sale in W07, as well as in W01 (South Parkdale, Roncesvalles, High Park/Swansea) and W02 (High Park North, Junction Area, Runnymede-Bloor West Village, Lambton-Baby Point, Dovercourt-Wallace, and Emerson Junction) has led to an average-sale-price-to-list-price ratio of 101 per cent, 107 per cent and 101 per cent respectively. Average listing days on market remain low as a result, running at nine days in W01 and 14 days W07.
Sales Recovery Remains Selective Despite Record Population Growth
Despite lingering economic uncertainty and weather-related delays earlier in the year, home-buying activity gained momentum in the second quarter of 2026 and is expected to continue through the balance of the year. The gap between seller expectations and what buyers are prepared to pay has narrowed significantly in recent months, contributing to the year-over-year increase in detached sales activity.
However, overall sales remain well below pandemic-era levels and are more consistent with volumes recorded in the early 2000s, a concerning trend given the scale of population growth across the Toronto CMA in recent years. While average prices have retreated from peak levels, the decline has not been enough to fully offset the impact of higher borrowing costs, tighter qualification requirements and economic uncertainty. Softer values have also limited equity growth for some homeowners, making it more difficult to amass a larger down payment, trade up or move within the market. As a result, underlying housing need is not translating into demand at the pace typically expected in a region that added almost 10 per cent to its population — or 635,923 people — between July 1, 2021, and July 1, 2025. (Population Source: Statistics Canada population estimates by CMA and census agglomeration). Instead, demand is concentrating in the most affordable pockets of the market, helping to fuel the uptick in detached sales below the $1.2-million threshold.
Oakville and Burlington Attract Lifestyle-Driven Buyers From Toronto and Beyond
Stability continues to characterize overall home-buying activity in Oakville and Burlington, with price adjustments earlier in the year helping to generate an uptick in detached housing sales in some segments. In Oakville, unit sales rose nearly 21 per cent in the first six months of 2026, with more than 700 homes changing hands compared with 611 sales during the same period in 2025. Overall average price fell three per cent short of year-ago levels, sitting at just over $1.9 million.
Although opportunities remain, many of the best-value properties were absorbed earlier in the year, with prices edging upward in the months since. Oakville’s $2-million to $3-million price point remains the city’s most active detached housing segment, although momentum has also strengthened at the upper end of the market, with four waterfront sales recorded above the $10-million threshold so far this year. Southeast Oakville remains the area’s premier luxury destination, capturing a significant share of demand; however, limited listing supply is placing upward pressure on existing properties. More affordably-priced suburban neighbourhoods north of the QEW continue to draw buyer interest, given healthy inventory levels, although purchasers in this segment remain among the most sensitive to financing concerns.
Renewed interest from Toronto buyers has further contributed to stronger sales activity in recent months. Some purchasers have been influenced by the City of Toronto’s April 1, 2026 increase in land transfer taxes on homes priced above $3 million, prompting them to consider luxury options outside the city. While not every inquiry results in a transaction, Oakville’s vibrant downtown core, waterfront lifestyle, picturesque heritage district and mature, leafy neighbourhoods have proven increasingly compelling to affluent buyers.
Neighbouring Burlington has also benefited from many of the same dynamics, drawing purchasers from Toronto and surrounding markets with an even more attractive value proposition. Long regarded as one of the western GTA’s most livable waterfront communities, Burlington offers a persuasive mix of established neighbourhoods, historic charm, upscale amenities and relative affordability. From heritage properties on tree-lined streets in Roseland to magnificent estates along Lake Ontario in Shoreacres, as well as newer subdivisions offering more accessible options for younger buyers, the city continues to appeal to a broad cross-section of detached housing purchasers.
Detached housing sales have climbed more than eight per cent in Burlington this year, with almost 650 properties changing hands between January and June, while average price was off year-ago levels by just over one per cent, hovering at $1.4 million.
Both Oakville and Burlington are benefiting from lifestyle-driven demand at a time when many professionals are no longer tied to downtown offices five days a week. Greater flexibility around remote and hybrid work has expanded the search radius of affluent buyers, while improved transit connectivity has made west-end communities increasingly practical for those who still commute into Toronto. With regular GO Train service offering a viable alternative to daily highway congestion, Oakville and Burlington continue to stand out as desirable, well-connected markets offering space, lifestyle and value relative to the city’s core luxury neighbourhoods.
