If you want to invest in real estate but can’t stomach the price to buy a property in Toronto, you might want to consider taking a second look at Durham Region.
Located within an hour’s drive east of Toronto, Durham Region has quickly become a popular place to invest in real estate because of the influx of new listings, its relatively affordable prices compared to Toronto and its abundance of large single-family homes.
According to a recent report by Remax, in March 2021 there were 2,837 new listings in Durham Region and only 2,076 residential transactions. This means buyers have a lot more options to choose from than in other real estate markets in the region.
On top of this, the average housing price across Durham region remains lower than the average price in Toronto and in regions west of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). In fact, in most cases real investors can buy a single detached family home in Durham Region for nearly the same price as they would pay for a multi residential space of condo in Toronto.
While the average price for a property in Durham region might be lower than in other regions across the GTA, bidding wars are still very common. In fact, the region has experienced a steep increase in price over the past decade jumping by 185 per cent – the second highest increase in the GTA.
In 2020, the average price for a home in Durham Region was $696,000, up from $611,000 in 2019, which is an increase of 14 per cent. Experts expect prices to continue to increase in 2021 by an average of three per cent to approximately $717,000.
According to a report from Properly, Durham Region has seen the greatest appreciation in prices in the GTA over the past year-and-a-half, making it one of the most sought after regions for real estate investors. The steep jump in prices has reversed a decades long trend that often saw the average price of a home in Oshawa about 40 per cent lower than in Mississauga. Today that spread is closer to 20 per cent.
According to Remax, the most in-demand cities in Durham are now Oshawa, Clarington and Whitby. These three cities are expected to remain in highest demand in 2021.
Looking ahead, many real estate experts expect demand for housing in Durham region to continue to grow as more and more people flee the city for larger homes where they can live, work and play.
If this happens, this will only increase demand on the region’s housing supply and drive up prices.
In fact, supply is already very low with only 0.9 months of inventory for the region. In the hottest markets inventory is even tighter with Ajax leading the way with only 0.6 months of inventory.
In addition to a tight housing market, the pace of sales has also picked up with the average property selling within 37 days in June, that’s 29.5 per cent faster than a year earlier.
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