According to a new report from the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB), the average Toronto home price in February reached $1,045,488. This is a month-over-month increase of a whopping 14.9%.

The average price fell just below $1 million in Toronto, at an average of $995,201. The rest of the GTA, however, sat at a $1,071,512 average price point.

Last month, TREBB’s Market Year in Review & Outlook 2021 Report predicted that the average selling price for all home types in all regions of the GTA would surpass $1,000,000 for the first time and go on to reach $1,025,000. Evidently, it didn’t take very long to break that record.

Ivan Gorbadei, a salesperson with RE/MAX, says that he felt the TRREB projection was “conservative” and isn’t surprised to see prices rising as high as they are so quickly.

“With historically low interest rates and high sales, there are strong reasons to expect a solid price growth in Toronto and [the] GTA this year,” Gorbadei said. “Most of that growth is very seasonal and usually happens in the first five months of the year. Therefore, I am not surprised to see a hot start, knowing there will be some month-over-month cooling down later in 2021.”

The TRREB data also shows that detached homes in the GTA have an even higher new selling average of $1.37 million — a 23.1% year-over-year increase.

“It’s clear that the historic demand for housing experienced in the second half of last year has carried forward into the first quarter of this year with some similar themes, including the continued popularity of suburban low-rise properties,” said TRREB President Lisa Patel.

The number of sales in the GTA has also been skyrocketing. In February, 10,970 homes were sold, which is a 52.5% increase compared to February 2020.

One troubling aspect that the report highlights, however, is the low inventory available, which will likely further drive up prices.

“In the absence of a marked uptick in inventory, the current relationship between demand and supply supports continued double-digit average home price growth this year,” said TRREB Chief Market Analyst Jason Mercer.

With 10 more months left in the year and the average already hitting $1 million, we can only imagine what GTA home prices will be like by the end of 2021.

Data released by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) shows that when comparing the average market prices from February 2020 to February 2021, Canada had a 25 per cent year-over-year increase. The average price rose from $542,484 to $678,091.

“One factor is that with work-from-home even more generalized, many people don’t have to live within commuting distance from their jobs,” Shaun Cathcart, senior economist at CREA, told CTVNews.ca. “That means that folks who own condos and smaller homes can take out built-up equity and move to a property that better meets their needs – as over the past year, home is not only where you eat a few meals and sleep, but also the office, your kids’ school, playground, gym, etc.”

The largest year-over-year percentage changes came from the Northwest Territories (48.1%), Nova Scotia (30.4%), Ontario (24.5%), Quebec (22.5%), and New Brunswick (20.9%).

Cathcart noted that the higher percentage change in Northwest Territories is likely due to the fact that in both February 2020 and February 2021, six homes were sold throughout the entire territory and the ones that were sold in 2021 were marked at a higher price.

When looking at the provinces and territories that had the largest upsurge in terms of price difference, Ontario sits at the top of the list with an increase of over $170,000. Northwest Territories came next, followed by British Columbia, Nova Scotia, and Quebec.

Average Real Estate Market Prices in Canada

Hover over a province/territory to see average market prices and the year-over-year percentage change

The data also shows that prices in suburban and rural areas were impacted the most and saw the biggest changes, with regions like Rideau-St. Lawrence and Sarnia-Lambton in Ontario averaging about a 50 per cent increase from the previous year.

“With people no longer having to live within commuting distance to their jobs, as long as suburban and rural areas have decent internet, they become even more attractive to families looking for more space,” said Cathcart.

Find your region and the year-over-year price and percentage change below.

Cathcart says that Canadians can expect to see sales and prices increase this year, but forecasts sales to slow down in 2022 while prices remain high.

Sales in the area reached a record 15,652 last month, up 97 per cent from 7,945 during the same time last year.

The sales growth was so dramatic because it compares with March 2020, when the first economic effects of the pandemic took hold and both buyers and sellers were wary of the market.

Those fears have long since dissipated. Realtors and housing agencies have reported a flurry of sales – surpassing many of their most optimistic predictions – since the start of the year.

They say the number of people willing to purchase now will likely more than make up for last year’s low periods.

“Confidence in economic recovery coupled with low borrowing costs supported a record pace of home sales last month,” TRREB president Lisa Patel said in a release.

In the first 14 days of March, there were 6,504 sales this year, up 41 per cent from how many were sold during that time period last year.

There were 9,148 sales reported between March 15 and March 31, 2021, an increase of 174 per cent compared to the COVID period of March 2020.

Splitting the month in two is significant: the first half of March 2020 looked relatively average, but restrictions enacted after the pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization on March 11 rapidly sent home sales plummeting.

A year on, available inventory hasn’t caught up to the number of people seeking new homes, putting pressure on prices.

“While the robust market activity is indicative of widespread consumer optimism, it is also shedding light on the sustained lack of inventory in the GTA housing market, with implications for affordability,” she said.

The average price of a home in the region jumped 21.6 per cent to $1,097,565 from $902,787 last year, while listings shot up by about 57 per cent to reach 22,709 from 14,434.

The most dramatic price increases were seen in detached housing, where the average price was up by 26.6 per cent to hit $1,402,849.

The average semi-detached home was sold for $1,045,519, a 17.5 per cent hike, while townhouses spiked by 20.7 per cent at $870,553.

Condos saw the smallest growth in prices. The average condo price climbed by 2.6 per cent to $676,052.

“With sales growth outstripping listings growth by a large margin, including in the condo market segment, competition between buyers in some market segments and the potential for double-digit price growth could continue without a meaningful increase in the supply of homes available for sale,” said TRREB chief market analyst Jason Mercer in a release.