Where in the GTA you can get a waterfront view for the lowest price

Homes along the shores of Lake Ontario may be pricier than others in and around Toronto, but with the region's real estate market in a protracted downturn, nabbing a place of your own with your dream view of the waterfront may come a little easier now than any other time in recent memory.

One GTA real estate agency, Wahi, has taken a snapshot of this segment of the market at present, offering insight as to where, exactly, buyers are more likely to get a home along the shoreline — which can often come at a premium of around 8 per cent — for the least amount of money.

The new report also shows where these types of homes are selling for the most ridiculous prices, and gives a glimpse into how disparate the cost of a waterfront property and non-waterfront property can be.

Dominating the first list is downtown Toronto, with neighbourhoods like Corktown, the Entertainment District and CityPlace found to have the cheapest waterfront properties (averaging around $632,000, $635,500 and $649,900, respectively). Also included are Fort York ($652,000) and St. Lawrence ($655,000). 

While this top five list encompasses the areas that have the cheapest median sold prices for a home on the water in the region, the difference between the average prices for waterfront and non-waterfront homes in each varies by as little as just $3,000 in Corktown to $54,500 in the Entertainment District.

Chart from Wahi's latest report on waterfront property prices in the GTA.

While downtown Toronto real estate coming in cheaper than elsewhere in the region may come as somewhat of a surprise, this is, of course, because of the fact that the core is so condo-heavy — the complete opposite of somewhere like Oakville, which is known for its sprawling properties and mansions.

Speaking of Oakville, the GTA locales with the most bonkers-priced homes along a harbour were found to be that city's Eastlake neighbourhood (where the typical home goes for a staggering $2,700,000), Old Oakville ($1,650,000), Roseland in Burlington ($1,618,750), West Oakville ($1,525,000) and Scarborough's Birch Cliff community ($1,525,000), in that order.

But, while the standard home with a scenic view of the water was as much as $353,750 more expensive, on average, than its non-waterfront counterpart in the same pocket, there was one neighbourhood on the list that bucked the trend.

In Old Oakville, a home that is not along the city's shoreline will actually run you about $250,000 more than one that is, which goes against what Wahi calls "conventional real estate wisdom [that] suggests that all else equal, waterfront homes command a premium compared to non-waterfront properties."

"For the right waterfront property, some buyers may be prepared to pay much more than they would for a comparable non-waterfront home," the report further explains.

Chart from Wahi's latest report on waterfront property prices in the GTA.

Aside from the Old Oakville outlier, there's another interesting tidbit that Wahi found: that the priciest spot for a beachfront home, Eastlake, is also among the most underbid in the whole region.

"One reason homes are often selling below asking in Eastlake may have to do with the prevalence of newer custom homes. Unlike a home in a subdivision, where many similar listings could be found, it is more difficult to find comparables for a custom home when setting the list price. Sellers may test the water with a higher price and agree to sell for less, depending on the offers," the firm says.