Buying a townhome in Toronto's suburbs is borderline impossible right now

We all know that buying a home in Toronto is no cakewalk, and could be downright risky, but it turns out that some of the city's surrounding suburbs are now among the most competitive real estate battlegrounds in the region.

While the pandemic wasn't enough to stop the runaway Greater Toronto Area (GTA) housing market, it has driven fierce competition in the detached home market. This could be the result of cramped condo towers seeming less appealing in light of physical distancing requirements and the shuttering of amenities.

But with the average price of a detached home in the region now soaring above the $1 million mark, townhomes have become a popular next-best option for buyers who want a bit more space.

GTA townhomes are now going for an average of $617 per square foot, or approximately $730,000. A limited supply and heavy competition has homebuyers paying 8.5 per cent above the list price on average, even in places far away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Toronto.

Just another bit of evidence of a mass exodus from the city centre that has been reported on since mid-2020.

Real estate data analysts at Strata ranked the top 10 condos currently witnessing the highest demand in the region. And while it would be fair to assume that at least a few of these properties are located in Toronto, that assumption would be dead wrong.

Just one of the ten listed is within Toronto: a low-rise condo building at 1765 Queen Street E. in the sought-after The Beaches neighbourhood.

The rest of the properties are exclusively townhomes located outside of Toronto in cities like Oshawa, Whitby, Oakville, Mississauga, and Clarington.

Topping the list, an unassuming townhome block at 960 Glen Street in Oshawa's Lakeview Park neighbourhood recorded an average of six days on the market before selling, with average selling prices a whopping 32 per cent above asking. Two-year appreciation rates are similarly high at 34 per cent.