Toronto detached home price now averages over $1M

The average price of a detached home in Toronto within the 416 area code has now surpassed $1 million.

The Toronto Real Estate Board released its figures for February sales today, showing an average price of $1,040,018 for a detached home, up 8.8 per cent from this time last year. There were 774 homes in that price range sold in February.

A million dollars doesnt buy you much a modest two-storey home in a not-very-fashionable neighbourhood, MLS listings show.

• House prices: Calgary more affordable, Toronto and Vancouver pricier
• Toronto home prices to lead Canada in 2015: Royal LePage
• Stephen Poloz says up to 30% overvalued housing big risk to economy

On Tuesday, RBC Economics highlighted the decreasing affordability of homes in Toronto, saying home ownership is increasingly out of reach for many people.

The average price for all home and condo resales in the city of Toronto came in at $630,858, up from $599,262 in February 2014. Just under half the units sold in Toronto were condos and their average price was much lower at $369,655, bringing down the average.

Average GTA price up 7.8%

The overall average selling price for the Greater Toronto Area in February was $596,163, up 7.8 per cent from the previous year, with most of the increase driven by higher prices for detached homes.

TREB reported 6,338 homes sold in February 2015 in the GTA, a substantial 11.3 per cent year-over-year increase.

At the same time, the number of new listings was down by 8.7 per cent, leading to a situation where there was more demand for homes than resale properties on the market.

"The strong year-over-year price growth we experienced in February points to the robust demand for ownership housing in the GTA, coupled with a constrained supply of homes for sale in some market segments, especially where low-rise home types like singles, semis and townhouses are concerned," said Jason Mercer, TREB's director of market analysis.

The condo market presents a very different picture across the GTA, with the number of sales for the month up 10 per cent, but the average price increase a more modest 2.4 per cent to $355,623. Many new condos are coming onto the market in the GTA, keeping prices low even as people take advantage of lower mortgage rates to get into the market.