The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) has long been a sought-after place to live, both a hot spot in Ontario and Canada as a whole. Easy access to downtown Toronto and an abundance of job opportunities, recreational activities and highly rated schools, GTA real estate has long been a desirable home-buying destination for families and working professionals.
By living outside of Toronto, but still connected to its transit systems, many can work and enjoy big-city amenities, while having access to more-affordable homes. While the price of GTA real estate has increased, it remains more affordable than properties in the Toronto core. But, as more people stray from the big city, particularly amid the Covid-19 lockdowns, housing markets in the surrounding areas have flourished. The city of Brampton is no exception.
Brampton, Ontario is situated on the GTA’s west side. With a population of just over 600,000 people, it is known as a dynamic and quickly growing commuter city for those who work in the GTA, Guelph, or even as far as the Kitchener-Waterloo area.
GTA Real Estate Closes out a Strong Summer
Housing prices in Brampton, Ontario continued to soar through the summer. With a limited amount of inventory and higher than typical demand, prices of homes in the Brampton real estate market have surged, making it more challenging for buyers who want to call the GTA “home.” The city saw the average home price increase 24% to $1,060,277 during the month of August this year.
Brampton saw 883 homes change hands; while this is still a substantial number, it sales fell 26% compared to August 2020. Declining unit sales gave some hope that the market could begin to replenish. However, with just 950 residential properties hitting the market, prices skyrocketed amid tight supply levels.
Brampton market trends reflect GTA real estate, as a whole. GTA home sales in the area increased as summer turned to fall, with 9,046 transactions recorded by the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) in the month of September. While a sales increase is typical that at this time of year, there was one sector of the market that was particularly interesting.
General intrigue in the condominium market in the GTA has been at an all-time high. September 2021 saw sales dip 18% compared to September 2020; however, this can largely be attributed to the lack of new listings coming on stream. New condominium listings in the GTA real estate market were down 34% year-over-year. TRREB President Kevin Crigger said: “Demand has remained incredibly robust throughout September with many qualified buyers who would buy a home tomorrow, provided they could find a suitable property. With new listings in September down by one-third compared to last year, purchasing a home for many is easier said than done. The lack of housing supply and choice has reached a critical juncture.”
This high demand and low supply have forced prices across the GTA, including Brampton, to soar. The MLS® Home Price Index Composite Benchmark increased by 19.1% from September 2020 to 2021. The average price of a home in September 2021, across all property types, reached a whopping $1,136,280. This is an 18.3% increase year-over-year. “Price growth in September continued to be driven by the low-rise market segments, including detached and semi-detached houses and townhouses. However, competition between buyers for condo apartments has picked up markedly over the past year, which has led to an acceleration in price growth over the past few months as first-time buyers re-entered the ownership market. Look for this trend to continue,” comments Jason Mercer, TRREB Chief Market Analyst.
Looking Ahead at the GTA Real Estate Market
Looking forward, it doesn’t appear as though housing prices in the GTA will be dropping anytime soon. With many keen homebuyers flooding the market and leaving the Toronto’s core, cities in the surrounding GTA are have become home-buying hot-spots in the Ontario real estate market. Furthermore, with interest rates remaining low for the last year, prospective homebuyers haven’t been as deterred by these price hikes, but industry experts warn that over-ambitious buyers shouldn’t get too comfortable, with interest rates rumoured to inch upward next year. It is expected that both Brampton and the GTA real estate markets will remain tight.
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