(And Why It’s Not Always the Lowest One)
In the Greater Toronto Area’s real estate market, where buyers are bombarded with conflicting opinions, shifting data on days on market and average prices, and a steady stream of negative headlines, we’ve lost sight of what actually makes a price good. We’ve been seduced by a simple equation: lower price equals better deal. Anyone who has navigated Ontario’s housing market knows how misleading that logic is.
The truth is more nuanced, more useful, and far more relevant, especially in a market where the debate is no longer just how high prices will go, but whether it’s even a good time to buy at all.
The Illusion of the List Price
Walk through any Toronto neighbourhood, from the tree-lined streets of the Beaches to the rapidly transforming blocks of Leslieville, and you’ll see the same pattern. A home lists for $899,000 and sells for $1 million. Another lists for $1.2 million and sells for $1.15 million. Which seller got the better price?
The answer isn’t obvious.
In the GTA’s peculiar market dynamics, strategic underpricing has become routine. The list price is no longer a reflection of value. It’s a tool to manufacture urgency. It’s theatre. An opening bid in a poker game where everyone pretends the rules are transparent.
A good price isn’t determined by what appears on the listing sheet. It’s determined by what remains after the deal closes.
The Hidden Costs of a “Negotiation”
Consider two real scenarios from last year.
In Oakville, a young couple bought a 1950s bungalow for $875,000, $75,000 under asking in a seller’s market. It felt like a win. Within three months, they uncovered $125,000 in necessary repairs: a failing foundation, knob-and-tube wiring, and an HVAC system held together by duct tape and optimism.
Meanwhile, in North York, another couple paid $1.1 million for a comparable home, $50,000 over asking. The property had been meticulously maintained, with recent upgrades to all major systems and a home warranty. Two years later, they’ve spent about $5,000 on minor repairs.
Which couple paid the better price?
Across Toronto, Brampton, Markham, and everywhere in between, buyers are learning this lesson the hard way. The lowest price often signals not value, but risk. Deferred maintenance, financing challenges, or neighbourhoods where appreciation has stalled.
Time Is the Currency We Forget to Count
Not long ago, the average GTA home sold in under 20 days. Speed became the obsession. But speed cuts both ways.
A property that sits for 60, 90, or even 120 days isn’t automatically overpriced. Sometimes it’s simply waiting for the right buyer, one who understands its value.
“Days on market” has become a negotiating weapon. Buyers ask, Why has it been listed for so long? as if time itself were decay. But longer exposure can signal something else entirely: a seller who isn’t desperate, a home that wasn’t artificially underpriced, or a price range where buyers need time to arrange financing.
Context matters. Time alone tells you very little.
The Neighbourhood Premium Isn’t Irrational
Every Toronto real estate conversation eventually lands here: But couldn’t you get so much more house in Barrie?
Yes. You could.
A $1 million budget buys a townhouse in the Annex or a larger detached home in Ajax. Square footage makes the latter look like the obvious choice. But square footage ignores everything that actually shapes daily life.
Transit access. Walkability. School districts. Commute times. Community.
A family paying $1.2 million for a semi-detached home near a subway line isn’t being irrational because they declined a $900,000 house with a 90-minute commute. They’re buying time. Hours every day that compound into weeks and months over years. They’re buying the ability to walk their children to school instead of spending evenings in traffic.
Those benefits don’t show up neatly on a spreadsheet, but they are real and expensive to give up.
The cheapest option rarely reflects the full cost of ownership: financial, temporal, or emotional.
Financing Terms Matter More Than You Think
Two identical homes in Richmond Hill, both listed at $1.2 million.
One sells for $1.05 million with a 40-day closing and a financing condition.
The other sells for $1.25 million with a 30-day closing, no conditions, and cash.
Which seller got the better deal?
On paper, the higher price looks like the clear winner. In practice, price without certainty is fragile.
The first seller assumes risk: renegotiation, failed financing, extended carrying costs, and lost opportunity. The second seller walks away clean. No conditions. No delays. No second-guessing.
In tight markets, the “best” price is often the one that creates the least friction between contract and closing.
The Opportunity Cost of Waiting
Perhaps the most overlooked factor in pricing is the cost of not buying.
We’ve met countless Toronto buyers who’ve waited two, three, even five years for prices to “make sense.” A few were briefly vindicated. Most watched prices climb while they waited for certainty that never arrived.
If you passed on a $664,000 Liberty Village condo in 2019 because it felt overpriced, you’re now facing $750,000 for the same unit, plus five years of lost equity.
This isn’t an argument for panic buying. It’s a reminder that opportunity cost is real cost.
Every generation believes it’s buying at the peak. Every generation believes the previous one had it easier. The data shows that entering the market at almost any point over the past 30 years has been financially beneficial over a ten-year horizon, even when the purchase felt mistimed.
Redefining “Good”
So what makes a good price in the GTA?
It’s a price that reflects the entire purchase, not just the transaction. The condition of the home. The terms of the deal. The time you gain or lose. The risks you assume. The opportunity cost of waiting. And whether the property aligns with your real life, not an abstract idea of market timing.
A good price is one you can carry without constant anxiety. One that still makes sense years later, not because you out-negotiated someone, but because the home actually did what you needed it to do. It supported your routine, your commute, your family, your sense of stability.
It’s the difference between owning something that quietly works for you and owning something that constantly demands attention, money, and compromise.
In the Greater Toronto Area, the lowest price rarely tells the full story. More often, it’s the number that hides the most risk and sends the bill later.
