Where to buy
Toronto areas
These are the parts of the GTA I work most often. They are grouped the way the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board reports them — the three Toronto districts, then the municipalities of Peel, York, Halton and Durham — so the market figures on this site line up with the areas below. Each one has a financing wrinkle that is genuinely its own, and in most cases it is the wrinkle rather than the price that decides what you can buy.
Toronto West
Etobicoke, the Junction, High Park, Bloor West Village, Roncesvalles, Parkdale and out to Rexdale — the most mixed housing stock in the city.
Toronto Central
The downtown core and waterfront up through the Annex, Yorkville, Forest Hill, Lawrence Park and North York Centre — condo-dominant, with the most expensive freehold in the country running through the middle of it.
Toronto East
Riverdale, Leslieville, the Beaches, East York and out through Scarborough — the most affordable way into a house in the 416.
Mississauga
Canada’s seventh-largest city in its own right — a full range from waterfront villages to the Square One condo cluster to airport-adjacent industry.
Brampton
One of Canada’s fastest-growing cities, heavily family-oriented, and the most common landing point for multi-generational households in the GTA.
Caledon
Rural and semi-rural north Peel — acreages, hamlets and estate lots, with the slowest-moving market in the region.
Vaughan
Woodbridge, Maple, Thornhill and Kleinburg — established, affluent, and now with a subway connection at the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre.
Markham
A major technology employment centre with its own downtown, some of the strongest schools in the region, and a tight, fast-moving market.
Richmond Hill
Central York Region along the Yonge corridor — established, expensive, and currently the best-supplied of the York municipalities.
Newmarket
A town with a real historic main street at the north end of York Region — more affordable than its southern neighbours, and quick to turn over.
Aurora
An established, affluent town between Newmarket and Richmond Hill, with a well-preserved historic core and large estate housing.
Oakville
The most expensive municipality in the region — lakefront estate housing, strong schools, and a market where almost nothing is insurable.
Burlington
The western edge of the GTA on Lake Ontario, consistently well-regarded for liveability, and tighter on supply than its Halton neighbours.
Milton
One of the fastest-growing towns in the country, largely new construction, at the foot of the escarpment.
Ajax
A lakefront Durham town with a well-used waterfront trail — and, with Whitby, one of the two tightest markets in the region.
Pickering
The closest Durham municipality to Toronto, with a GO station, a growing city centre and a large protected greenbelt to the north.
Whitby
A well-established Durham town with a historic downtown and Port Whitby on the lake — and the tightest supply in the region.
Oshawa
The eastern end of the GTA and by a wide margin its most affordable municipality — the clearest expression of the commute-for-price trade.
Not sure which area fits?
Tell me your budget, your commute and whether you want a yard or a garage more. I have financed homes in all of these and I will tell you honestly where your money goes furthest.