Looking for a 3-Bedroom House in the GTA for Under $1 Million? Try These Areas

Wahi research suggests that Greater Toronto Area single-family homebuyers are most interested in three-bedroom houses. Here’s where you’re more likely to find them for under $1 million.

By Josh Sherman | 3 minute read

While not everyone can afford a three-bedroom house, homebuyers are more likely to find this desirable type of property for under $1 million in more than one-third of GTA communities.

For many house hunters, the third bedroom’s the charm.

In fact, Wahi’s recent Great Canadian Dream Home Survey reveals that most Canadians prefer single-family homes and that their ideal number of bedrooms is three.  

With these homebuyer preferences in mind, Wahi’s latest study identifies where you’re most likely to find more affordably priced three-bedroom houses across 30 communities in the GTA. The analysis breaks down single-family home sales during the second quarter by number of bedrooms, including properties with two or fewer bedrooms, three bedrooms, four bedrooms, and five-plus bedrooms.

According to the results, there are a total of 11 communities where the median sale price of a three-bedroom home is below $1 million, suggesting at least half of all properties changed hands for less than this amount 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.)

Seven of the 11 communities with a median three-bedroom house price below $1 million are concentrated in Durham region:

Wahi’s analysis also looks at which type of house (by bedroom count) represents the largest share of local sales. Three-bedroom houses accounted for the largest share of single-family home sales in 26 out of 30 GTA communities.

While a higher share of purchases could suggest greater demand, it could also reflect 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.

Nonetheless, if a high share of three-bedroom homes are selling relative to all sales in a community, homebuyers may want to check out the area to take advantage of more choice.

Other key findings

• The median sale price of a three-bedroom house in the GTA ranged from a low of $720,000 in Brock up to $1,700,000 in King.
• Out of the six communities located within the City of 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).

• Oshawa had the highest share of three-bedroom house sales of any community, with 79% of single-family homes sold in the third quarter featuring three bedrooms.  
• At 31%, King had the lowest share of three-bedroom home sales. No other community saw three-bedroom houses account for less than 40% of single-family home sales.
• All four communities where four-bedroom homes were the most in-demand were located in York region (Markham, Vaughan, King, and East Gwillimbury). The prevalence of four-bedroom home sales in King comes as no surprise, as previous Wahi research revealed the township has an average lot size that’s roughly triple that of other GTA municipalities.