We’re starting to see some bidding wars and homes selling over list price in certain areas we’re working in with clients, and we thought it was worth examining how common that is these days.

We pulled the data for freehold properties in Toronto, York, Peel, Durham, Halton, Dufferin and Simcoe to see exactly where these three day markets exist and to what extent.  Let’s get into it.

Toronto – Home of the 11%

When we look at the City of Toronto, it is by far the place where the three day market is most prevalent.

As of April 17, 2026, there have been 2,465 sales in Toronto so far this year.  276 of these sales happened in three days or less, which means that 11% of the Toronto market transacted that quickly.  The homes are generally three bedroom, three washroom houses.

The average sale to list price for these 276 homes was 106%, so these sellers received, on average, about $76,000 more than their list price.  Whether this was a result of the sellers holding back offers until a certain date and then receiving a bully offer they accepted, or simply a quick acting buyer who offered more than list price shortly after listing, Toronto was one of two parts of the GTA where these quick sales also netted sellers more than list price.

Durham – 2^nd Place Ain’t Bad

The only other part of the GTA that saw an average sale to list price of over 100% was Durham.

As of April 17, 2026, Durham has had 1,608 sales in the region so far, and 106 of those sales happened in three days or less on market.  This means about 7% of all of the sales in 2026 in Durham happened on a very quick basis, and the average sale to list price was about 102%.

With an average list price in Durham of about $910,000 for these quick sales, it means that these sellers not only sold quickly, they made about $14K more than their list price.  Just like Toronto, these homes had three bedrooms and three washrooms, which means they’re quite suitable for a family.

York – Close, but No Cigar

While all five of the remaining areas with the GTA saw a number of these quick sales, none of them had a sale to list price ratio of over 100%.  York came closest to the mark of these five, with a sale to list price ratio of just under 100%.

There were 1,917 sales in York Region in 2026 as of April 17, 2026, and about 5% of these sales happened in three days or less.  These 96 homes sold for, on average, about $6,000 less than their list price, so while they sold quickly, it wasn’t the same sort of market where sellers got more in a very quick fashion.  They were slightly larger homes than we saw in Toronto and Durham, with four bedrooms and four washrooms on average.

Peel – 92 sales and 95% over Three Days

As of April 17, 2026, Peel has seen 1,883 sales this year and just 92 of those sales took place in three days or less.  That works out to about 5% of the total sales, and on average, the sellers of these four bedroom, three washroom homes got about $10K less than their list price.  With 95% of properties selling over that three day window, the Peel market was definitely not the hottest in the GTA.

Halton – 1% Under List Price

Halton is our first part of the GTA to see a list to sale price ratio of 99%, which worked out to sellers taking about $11K less than the list price.  As of April 17, 2026, Halton has seen 1,187 sales and just 71 of those of those homes sold in three days or less.  That means that just 6% of the properties sold so far this year (which were three bedroom, three washroom homes on average) sold in a very speedy fashion.

Simcoe – The Second Smallest Level of Sales and the Smallest Homes

Simcoe has had 1,475 sales in 2026 as of April 17, 2026, with just 3% of those sales taking place in three days or less.  These 40 homes were also the smallest homes to sell in that timeframe in all of the GTA, with an average size of three bedrooms and two washrooms.  They sold for about $8K less than list price, but with the lowest average sale price in the GTA, that number below list isn’t too surprising.

Dufferin – Just Three Houses Sold in Under Three Days

Our final area to review is Dufferin, which saw just three of the 148 sales so far this year (as of April 17, 2026) sell in under three days.  That works out to 2% of the total sales and while the sale to list price ration was 96%, with just three sales, that number isn’t reliable.  Similarly, the $27K under list price that these sellers took in order to sell so quickly seems reflective more of buyers pushing hard, rather than a hot market.

Nobody buys or sells the market as a whole.  Whether you’re looking to purchase a property or sell one – or both – you’re always dealing with a specific housing type, area and price point.  While what is happening in “the” market can be interesting, it is often not the same as what is happening in any of these sub-markets.  We hope you found this review helpful, and that seeing which parts of the GTA have been seeing some quick sales – and the impact that has had on the prices for these sales – gave you a better understanding of the differing markets we’re seeing.

If you are thinking about making a move, then you need to know what’s happening in your market, not the market.  Get in touch with us and we’ll show you exactly what is happening where you live and where you want to live.

A lot of real estate statistics are, by their very nature, backward looking.  We examine what sold and for how much, how long it took to sell and so on.  If we add in the delays of aggregating the data, we’re often giving analysis of what’s happening “now” when it really reflects what has happened in the last 30 to 45 days.

We actively work with buyers and sellers on a daily basis, and we definitely see differences from what the “latest” stats show compared to what we’re experiencing today.

While anecdotal descriptions of what a real estate market is like now are somewhat helpful, we can delve into current stats to get a more up to date understanding of how different markets are doing right now.  We’ve done exactly that for the GTA so that we can tell you what’s happening in the past week in each of these markets, and which market is the hottest right now.

We examined where homes are selling for the most over asking price now, where the lowest number of active listings are currently on the market and where homes are selling the quickest.  Put it all together and you get a sense of the hottest market in the GTA this week as well as where might be the next hot market!

Let’s get into it.

Where are homes selling for the most over asking?

In the past seven days (January 15^th to January 21^st, 2022) we had 31 freehold homes sell in the GTA for over 150% of asking price.  That means that if the home was listed at $1M, it sold for $1.5M.  That’s a huge premium over list price, even taking into account sellers listing below market value, and such high sale to list price ratios are clear indication of how hot a market is right now.

21 of the 31 sales over 150% took place in Durham Region, meaning it is absolutely the hottest market from this metric.  Toronto had six sales over 150%, Halton Region had two sales and Peel and York Regions each only had one sale over 150%.

If we look at the number of total sales in Durham Region, we see that we had 139 sales, which means that 15% of the homes that sold in the past week in Durham sold for over 150%.  That is one hot market!  The average sale to list price ratio overall in Durham was 131%, the highest in all of the GTA.

York Region was the coolest market overall, with one sale over 150% out of 178 sales in the past week.  Their average sale to list price ratio was 117%, also the lowest in the GTA in the last week.

Where are homes selling the fastest?

In the past seven days (January 15^th to January 21^st, 2022) the median days on market in the GTA was just 5.2 days.  With the number of transactions ranging from 98 (Halton) up to 178 (York), the median is a better indication of the speed and heat of the market than the average, which is prone to outliers influencing that number upward.

The hottest market on this metric was Peel Region, with a blistering four day median for a home to go from listed to sold.  Toronto and York were the “slowest” markets at a six days median, which tells us that across the GTA, things are moving far, far faster than normal.

Where are the fewest number of homes available for sale?

If we look at the number of freehold homes for sale right now (January 21, 2022), the lowest number of homes for sale is in Halton Region, with just 217 houses listed for sale as of this date.  The highest number of active homes is in Toronto, with 704 freehold homes for sale right now.

While it may seem like this means Halton is the hottest market right now based on the low level of homes for sale, we need to take population into account.  After all, if you have a smaller population, a smaller number of homes for sale doesn’t necessarily translate into it being a hot market.

We pulled the latest census numbers for population in the five areas that make up the GTA and used that to calculate the current number of homes for sale per 1,000 residents of the area.  When we look at the active listings from that perspective, Halton Region is actually in the middle of the pack, with 40 listings per 1,000 residents.

The actual hottest market based on listings per population is York Region, with just 25 listings currently for sale per 1,000 residents.  Toronto is the coolest market by this metric with 64 listings currently for sale per 1,000 residents.  The average number of homes for sale per 1,000 residents across the GTA is approximately 40 listings, which means York Region is definitely hotter than the GTA as a whole.

When we take into account where homes are selling for the highest percentage over asking, where they are selling in the quickest amount of time and where there are the fewest number of active listings for the population of the area, we have three different answers to where the hottest market is in the GTA.

• Durham Region is where you’re seeing the highest number of sales over 150% of asking and the highest overall average sale to list price ratio in the GTA.
• Peel Region is where homes are selling the quickest in the GTA.
• York Region is where there are the fewest homes per sale based on the population.

When we combine all of the data we reviewed, it tells us that Durham Region is the current hottest market in the GTA, but it appears it is about to lose its crown to Peel Region.  Markets change rapidly and that is the reason why its crucial to work with agents who understand what’s happening right now and know how to use that data to tell you what’s coming next.  If that sounds appealing, get in touch so we can talk next steps.