Where to find 3-bedroom homes for under $1M in the Greater Toronto Area

Finding a decent single-family home for under $1 million isn’t easy in the Greater Toronto Area.

While the real estate market has been in a lull, prices are still unaffordable for many people. In September, the average price of detached homes was at $1,461,044 in Mississauga.

But there are some areas where families can find houses for under $1 million, according to real estate platform Wahi. A new study from Wahi looks at where to find more affordable three-bedroom houses across 30 communities in the GTA.

For many house hunters, the third bedroom’s the charm. In fact, Wahi’s recent Great Canadian Dream Home Survey found most Canadians prefer single-family homes and that their ideal number of bedrooms is three.

The latest analysis breaks down single-family home sales during the second quarter of 2024 by number of bedrooms, including properties with two or fewer bedrooms, three bedrooms, four bedrooms, and five-plus bedrooms.

The study found 11 communities where the median sale price of a three-bedroom home is below $1 million, Wahi said. This suggests that at least half of all properties changed hands for less than $1 million in these areas.

Communities with higher median sale prices may still have homes below $1 million, but the share of these homes relative to overall sales will be lower.

Durham Region wins for home-price affordability.

Seven of the 11 communities with a median three-bedroom house price below $1 million are concentrated in Durham region including Scugog, Pickering, Ajax, Whitby, Clarington, Oshawa and Brock.

In Peel, only Brampton makes the list. In Halton, Milton and Halton Hills have a median three-bedroom house price below $1 million. The final community is Georgina in York Region.

The lowest prices are in the northern Durham community of Brock where the median sale price of a three-bedroom house is $720,000. The highest median sale price for a three-bedroom home was $1,700,000 in King.

Out of the six communities in Toronto, Scarborough had the lowest median sale price for a three-bedroom single-family home ($1,025,000) and Old Toronto had the highest ($1,550,000).

Three-bedroom houses accounted for the largest share of single-family home sales in 26 out of 30 GTA communities, Wahi said.

But they note this a higher share of purchases could suggest greater demand or the mix of homes in a specific geography. For example, if an area has a high concentration of three-bedroom houses, it could explain a higher sales volume for that property type, Wahi said.

Oshawa had the highest share of three-bedroom house sales of any community, with 79 per cent of single-family homes sold in the third quarter featuring three bedrooms.

At 31 per cent, King had the lowest share of three-bedroom home sales. No other community saw three-bedroom houses account for less than 40 per cent of single-family home sales.