Top neighbourhoods to buy Greater Toronto Area real estate in 2017

The GTA’s top neighbourhoods

By Mark Brown and Romana King on April 11, 2017
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

The No. 1 spot has homes going for $200K cheaper than surrounding areas

Overview

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C I T Y D E T A I L S

A seller’s market

While governments, banks and even some realtors openly express concern about Toronto’s housing market, home prices continue to set new records. In 2015, roughly one in four homes in the GTA was priced under $500,000. A year later, less than 10% of neighbourhoods are below the half million mark. That doesn’t mean there still aren’t deals to be had, but you need to do your homework. For the best deals in Toronto, look north. Eight of the top 10 neighbourhoods in the GTA reside in York region including our No. 1: North Richvale in Richmond Hill. Homes are selling for $1 million, and that’s about $200,000 below the average price in Richmond Hill. It’s also in a choice school district so prices may catch up to its neighbours.

Photo gallery: Top 25 Toronto neighbourhoods

If you’re on a tight budget but have your heart set on owning a house, you’ll want to start your search in Durham where $400,000 will still buy you something respectable. Our top 25 neighbourhoods saw prices rise by 26%, outpacing the broader GTA by three percentage points. Notably, seven of last year’s top 25 are back again this year, led by Aurora Grove which slipped to No. 4, from first overall in 2016. If you’re hoping for something closer to downtown, focus on where Highway 401 meets the Don Valley Parkway. There you’ll find a few pockets where prices are playing catch-up to the neighbourhoods around them. Scroll down to see the full ranking of neighbourhoods and to learn more.

Best deals in real estate across the GTA

Toronto’s top neighbourhoods Durham’s top neighbourhoods Peel’s top neighbourhoods York region’s top neighbourhoods Halton’s top neighbourhoods

Greater Toronto Area at a glance…

	City	Top 25
Average Neighbourhood Price	$861,859	$871,192
Median	$774,000	$933,800
Max	$3,006,200	$1,146,800
Min	$273,700	$355,300
Below $500K	9%	8%
Average 1-year return	22.7%	30.3%
Average 3-year return	49.1%	67.3%
Average 5-year return	67.9%	90.3%
Realtor grade (out of 5)	★★★★	★★★★

A look at GTA regions

Top 25 neighbourhoods in the GTA

Click here to see the full ranking of 400+ GTA neighbourhoods

Rank	Neighbourhood	Area	Average price	Average price vs. area	Average price vs. metro district	Average price vs. greater city area	1-year price change	3-year price change	5-year price change	Realtor grade
1	North Richvale	Richmond Hill	$954,500	78.2%	96.9%	113.8%	31.2%	67.0%	94.9%	★★★★½
2	Cornell	Markham	$695,700	64.4%	70.6%	83.0%	21.2%	57.0%	75.9%	★★★★½
3	Crosby	Richmond Hill	$1,036,400	84.9%	105.2%	123.6%	37.5%	84.1%	113.7%	★★★★
4	Aurora Grove	Aurora	$708,700	80.8%	72.0%	84.5%	26.4%	66.9%	81.6%	★★★★
5	Rouge River Estates	Markham	$926,500	85.8%	94.1%	110.5%	28.5%	53.7%	80.3%	★★★★½
6	Langstaff	Richmond Hill	$971,100	79.5%	98.6%	115.8%	30.5%	63.0%	111.9%	★★★★
7	Pleasant View	Toronto C15	$891,000	67.1%	89.8%	106.3%	32.2%	69.2%	88.3%	★★★½
8	Village Green-South Unionville	Markham	$933,800	86.5%	94.8%	111.4%	24.3%	67.6%	86.8%	★★★★½
9	Bayview Northeast	Aurora	$826,500	94.3%	83.9%	98.6%	27.3%	72.8%	95.3%	★★★★
10	Central	Oshawa	$355,300	80.4%	66.7%	42.4%	29.7%	69.0%	89.9%	★★★
11	Observatory	Richmond Hill	$1,146,800	93.9%	116.4%	136.8%	34.4%	70.5%	84.1%	★★★★★
12	Bayview Wellington	Aurora	$679,200	77.5%	69.0%	81.0%	21.0%	57.2%	83.3%	★★★★
13	Bristol-London	Newmarket	$623,000	83.7%	63.3%	74.3%	30.5%	62.0%	75.1%	★★★★
14	Oak Ridges Lake Wilcox	Richmond Hill	$1,035,800	84.8%	105.2%	123.5%	30.4%	65.4%	89.4%	★★★★
15	German Mills	Markham	$1,021,200	94.6%	103.7%	121.8%	37.6%	73.0%	91.6%	★★★★½
16	Harding	Richmond Hill	$1,143,900	93.7%	116.1%	136.4%	47.3%	93.6%	111.9%	★★★★
17	Raymerville	Markham	$956,600	88.6%	97.1%	114.1%	27.4%	68.9%	84.7%	★★★★
18	Vanier	Oshawa	$360,700	81.6%	67.7%	43.0%	28.2%	61.9%	86.7%	★★★½
19	Central Newmarket	Newmarket	$688,400	92.5%	69.9%	82.1%	29.7%	63.9%	82.1%	★★★★
20	Oak Ridges	Richmond Hill	$1,081,400	88.6%	109.8%	129.0%	30.6%	67.9%	92.7%	★★★★
21	Aurora Heights	Aurora	$837,400	95.5%	85.0%	99.9%	31.5%	65.5%	91.2%	★★★★
22	Stouffville	Whitchurch-Stouffville	$836,900	90.6%	85.0%	99.8%	22.2%	58.1%	77.8%	★★★★½
23	Bayview Fairway-Bayview Country Club Estates	Markham	$1,037,300	96.1%	105.3%	123.7%	41.9%	80.0%	95.7%	★★★★
24	Sherwood-Amberglen	Markham	$956,900	88.6%	97.2%	114.1%	24.5%	50.5%	82.2%	★★★★½
25	Old Markham Village	Markham	$1,074,800	99.6%	109.1%	128.2%	31.2%	75.4%	111.5%	★★★★½