The average GTA home price is expected to soar to a staggering $1,243,000 by the year’s end, according to a new market forecast from Royal LePage.

Following the jaw-dropping 17.3% increase experienced by GTA home prices in 2021, the projected year-end price would mark another 11% jump from Q4’s $1,119,800.

“If the fourth quarter of 2021 is any indication of what is in store for the GTA housing market in the coming months, buyers can expect tight competition through the spring, as demand continues to outpace supply across the region and in every segment of the market,” said Karen Yolevski, chief operating officer, Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd.

“This competition will continue to put upward pressure on prices, pushing some buyers to increase their budgets, expand the parameters of their geographical search or consider a different housing type.”

Royal LePage

With detached single-family homes hitting a new median price of $1,421,200 at the end of 2021, many buyers were forced to consider more affordable forms of housing like condominiums, which ended the year with a median price of $665,400.

“As affordability continues to wane in the downtown core and the greater region, demand for condominiums is increasing,” Yolevski said. “Many first-time buyers, as well as those who have been priced out of the detached segment over the last year, see condos as an opportunity to enter the real estate market. Without a significant and speedy boost in housing supply, major urban centres like Toronto will remain firmly in a seller’s market.”

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Yolevski notes that although Canada is expected to see an influx of newcomers in 2022, they will likely settle in the urban centre and not venture out to the smaller towns and cities in the Golden Horseshoe as many Toronto residents did during the pandemic.