Top neighbourhoods to buy in GTA (2018-2019)
Choosing where to buy a home is an intensely personal decision, but gut feeling alone shouldn’t guide the biggest financial decision most of us will make in our lives.
For most Canadians, housing is both their largest asset and their largest source of debt. Whether you’re an income property investor or just looking for somewhere to raise a family within reasonable commuting distance to work, it’s important to think about how homes in the neighborhood you pick are likely to appreciate over time compared to their peers.
How we do it
To identify the top neighborhoods we start by looking at value, using average housing prices provided by local real estate boards across the country. To be clear, when we say value we aren’t simply looking for the cheapest areas. Cheap prices alone could be indicative of neighborhoods mired in social problems, or that lack amenities and offer little in the way of a return on your investment.
Instead, we’re looking for relative value, when a neighborhood is more affordable than areas nearby. We measure this by comparing the average home prices in each neighborhood to prices in the surrounding area.
Next we scour each market looking for areas where homes are appreciating faster than in other parts of the city over the past one, three and five years. With this data we’re looking for signs of sustained price gains which can uncover an area that is in greater demand. The stronger the overall appreciation, the higher these neighborhoods ranked in our list.
Our ranking of cities takes a broader view of the economy and rental market. We incorporate data from a variety of sources — including the Canadian Real Estate Association and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
We consider factors such as sales to new listings, the ratio of average income to average housing prices and the local unemployment rate. The top-ranked cities have strong economies, solid rental markets, good value for your dollar and robust price appreciation.
We’ve done the hard work for you, correlating value and price momentum with what realtors think about these neighborhoods. You’ll still have to do some of your own research to find areas that meet your needs, but we hope this narrows down your search area to help you find and buy your dream home.
These are our top 25 picks for the best neighbourhoods to buy real estate in GTA’s inner suburbs.
Rank | Neighborhood | Area | Average home price (2017) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Central Ajax Average price vs. area- 73.3% Avg. price vs. metro district- 75.06% Avg. price vs. outer region- 43.73% 1-year price change- 10.82% 3-year price change- 69.03% 5-year price change- 104.32% |
Ajax | $476,215 |
2 | Aurora Heights Average price vs. area- 86.91% Avg. price vs. metro district- 84.81% Avg. price vs. outer region- 91.13% 1-year price change- 32.79% 3-year price change- 81.35% 5-year price change-113.88% |
Aurora | $992,408 |
3 | Village East Average price vs. area- 78.16% Avg. price vs. metro district- 98.48% Avg. price vs. outer region- 57.37% 1-year price change- 22.74% 3-year price change- 68.18% 5-year price change- 91.07% |
Pickering | $624,770 |
4 | Bayview Wellington Average price vs. area- 76.24% Avg. price vs. metro district- 74.4% Avg. price vs. outer region- 79.94% 1-year price change- 14.8% 3-year price change- 64.89% 5-year price change- 95.9% |
Aurora | $870,565 |
5 | Heart Lake West Average price vs. area- 86.58% Avg. price vs. metro district- 75.56% Avg. price vs. outer region- 54.68% 1-year price change- 21.54% 3-year price change- 64.56% 5-year price change- 79.51% |
Brampton | $595,521 |
6 | Queen Street Corridor Average price vs. area- 96.64% Avg. price vs. metro district- 84.33% Avg. price vs. outer region- 61.04% 1-year price change- 33.83% 3-year price change- 77.63% 5-year price change- 103.14% |
Brampton | $664,688 |
7 | Brampton North Average price vs. area- 86.07% Avg. price vs. metro district- 75.11% Avg. price vs. outer region- 54.36% 1-year price change- 20% 3-year price change- 62.93% 5-year price change- 79.6% |
Brampton | $591,991 |
8 | Central Park Average price vs. area- 81.7% Avg. price vs. metro district- 71.29% Avg. price vs. outer region- 51.6% 1-year price change- 23.54% 3-year price change- 56.67% 5-year price change- 83.75% |
Brampton | $561,910 |
9 | North Richvale Average price vs. area- 89.14% Avg. price vs. metro district- 101.95% Avg. price vs. outer region- 109.54% 1-year price change- 27.13% 3-year price change- 75.99% 5-year price change- 106% |
Richmond Hill | $1,192,907 |
10 | Bay Ridges Average price vs. area- 86.2% Avg. price vs. metro district- 108.61% Avg. price vs. outer region- 63.27% 1-year price change- 28.41% 3-year price change- 64.52% 5-year price change- 83.7% |
Pickering | $689,013 |
11 | Aurora Grove Average price vs. area- 81.01% Avg. price vs. metro district- 79.06% Avg. price vs. outer region- 84.95% 1-year price change- 12.51% 3-year price change- 73.85% 5-year price change- 104.55% |
Aurora | $925,075 |
12 | Liverpool Average price vs. area- 84.85% Avg. price vs. metro district- 106.9% Avg. price vs. outer region- 62.28% 1-year price change- 20.33% 3-year price change- 51.7% 5-year price change- 95.97% |
Pickering | $678,190 |
13 | Heart Lake East Average price vs. area- 89.1% Avg. price vs. metro district- 77.76% Avg. price vs. outer region- 56.28% 1-year price change- 20.12% 3-year price change- 64.83% 5-year price change- 74.55% |
Brampton | $612,854 |
14 | Brock Ridge Average price vs. area- 88.09% Avg. price vs. metro district- 110.99% Avg. price vs. outer region- 64.66% 1-year price change- 22.14% 3-year price change- 59.45% 5-year price change- 88.74% |
Pickering | $704,120 |
15 | Town Centre Average price vs. area- 66.1% Avg. price vs. metro district- 83.29% Avg. price vs. outer region- 48.52% 1-year price change- 15.34% 3-year price change- 58.73% 5-year price change- 72.95% |
Pickering | $528,378 |
16 | Crosby Average price vs. area- 75.51% Avg. price vs. metro district- 86.36% Avg. price vs. outer region- 92.79% 1-year price change- 12.12% 3-year price change- 68.32% 5-year price change- 101.77% |
Richmond Hill | $1,010,479 |
17 | West Shore Average price vs. area- 99.55% Avg. price vs. metro district- 125.43% Avg. price vs. outer region- 73.07% 1-year price change- 20.51% 3-year price change- 63.27% 5-year price change- 108.97% |
Pickering | $795,736 |
18 | Downtown Brampton Average price vs. area- 89.31% Avg. price vs. metro district- 77.94% Avg. price vs. outer region- 56.4% 1-year price change- 28.56% 3-year price change- 54.02% 5-year price change- 73.86% |
Brampton | $614,253 |
19 | Northgate Average price vs. area- 81.39% Avg. price vs. metro district- 71.03% Avg. price vs. outer region- 51.41% 1-year price change- 20.56% 3-year price change- 59.01% 5-year price change- 76.35% |
Brampton | $559,827 |
20 | Bayview Northeast Average price vs. area- 90.93% Avg. price vs. metro district- 88.74% Avg. price vs. outer region- 95.34% 1-year price change- 16.53% 3-year price change- 74.23% 5-year price change- 101.55% |
Aurora | $1,038,326 |
21 | Commerce Valley Average price vs. area- 78.53% Avg. price vs. metro district- 88.53% Avg. price vs. outer region- 95.13% 1-year price change- 23.84% 3-year price change- 59.84% 5-year price change- 92.42% |
Markham | $1,035,939 |
22 | Madoc Average price vs. area- 84.03% Avg. price vs. metro district- 73.33% Avg. price vs. outer region- 53.07% 1-year price change- 19.77% 3-year price change- 59.88% 5-year price change- 72.03% |
Brampton | $577,990 |
23 | South West Average price vs. area- 92.11% Avg. price vs. metro district- 94.33% Avg. price vs. outer region- 54.95% 1-year price change- 16.61% 3-year price change- 62.38% 5-year price change- 87.66% |
Ajax | $598,440 |
24 | Oak Ridges Average price vs. area- 77.48% Avg. price vs. metro district- 88.61% Avg. price vs. outer region- 95.21% 1-year price change- 16.23% 3-year price change- 66.29% 5-year price change- 89.79% |
Richmond Hill | $1,036,870 |
25 | Pottageville Average price vs. area- 82.58% Avg. price vs. metro district- 107.7% Avg. price vs. outer region- 115.72% 1-year price change- 30.92% 3-year price change- 85.78% 5-year price change- 98.84% |
King | $1,260,190 |
Source: MoneySense