Oshawa leads GTA with 48 per cent home price hike

April 15, 2021

A new online home price calculator, Properly, has crunched Greater Toronto Area (GTA) pricing data to compare the selling prices of homes bought in the six-month period prior to COVID-19 (September 2019 to February 2020) with the current value (April 2021).
The findings are a bit surprising, but they are being reflected in other markets.
The comparison found that those who bought homes in suburban areas of the GTA in the six-month lead up to COVID-19 saw their investment jump by an average of 30 per cent, while those who bought in the city of Toronto saw an average increase of 16 per cent.
Those who bought homes in Oshawa (48 per cent increase in value), Georgina (46 per cent increase), and Brock (46 per cent increase) just prior to the pandemic have seen the greatest appreciation in value. Meanwhile, regions in closer proximity to Toronto, such as Vaughan (21 per cent), Markham (22 per cent), and Richmond Hill (22 per cent), have seen weaker —though still impressive — appreciation.
The findings parallel what is being seen in the Metro Vancouver market, based on home sale price increases comparing the first quarter of 2020 to current values as of the end of March 2021.
In the first quarter of 2021, for instance, detached house prices on Bowen Island—a ferry ride away from Vancouver— increased 36 per cent from a year earlier; on the Sunshine Coast they shot up 34 per cent; and, were up more than 20 per cent in suburban South Delta, Maple Ridge , Pitt Meadows, and Port Moody. Mission, about 80 kilometres from downtown Vancouver, has seen a 24 per cent price increase in homes—the highest in the Fraser Valley.
In comparison, benchmark detached house prices in the City of Vancouver increased about 12 per cent year-over-year as of March 2021, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.