Homebuyers are overpaying in these underrated Toronto neighbourhoods 

While the housing market has slowed in Toronto (prices and sales are both down year-over-year), a recent report suggests that one area of the city is seeing hotter activity than other (and arguably trendier) neighbourhoods. 

A recent report from digital real estate platform Wahi said that while competition for homes has increased slightly across the GTA, activity has remained fairly muted overall, with 91 per cent of the 238 neighbourhoods it analyzed seeing houses selling for under asking. 

That said, the east end of Toronto appears to be bucking the trend. 

According to the report, neighbourhoods such as The Beach (or Beaches, as it’s commonly called), Leslieville and The Danforth are seeing increased demand–a trend that started last year. 

Wahi said those three neighbourhoods were included in the top five GTA neighbourhoods for overbidding in February, with St. Clair West in Old Toronto and West Shore in Pickering also seeing more competition.

While the three east end neighbourhoods aren’t the most affordable in the city, the report notes that housing in the region tends to be more competitively priced. 

The Beaches, home to Woodbine Beach, boasts a median sold price of $1.3 million, with a median overbid amount of $113,500–the highest of the five neighbourhoods where buyers are more likely to offer more than the listing price.

The Danforth, home to the city’s famous Greektown district, is also seeing a median overbid of $76,000, with a median sold price of $1.1 million. In Leslieville, located between Riverside and The Beaches, houses are selling for about $1.1, with buyers overbidding by about $58,000 on average. 

In St. Clair West, homes are selling for about $1.1, with overbidding coming in at about $75,000. 

In West Shore, the median overbid amount is $50,000, with the median sold price coming in at $900,000. 

The rest of the GTA has seen a slower and more balanced market. According to Wahi’s analysis, seven per cent of the 238 neighbourhoods in which at least five homes were sold last month were in overbidding territory this February, up from six per cent of the 213 neighbourhoods that met the minimum sales threshold in January. 

Despite higher demand for east end neighbourhoods, the report notes that the Toronto and GTA housing market is seeing less overbidding overall year-over-year, with 20 per cent of analyzed neighbourhoods falling into the overbidding category in February 2025. 

“We would expect to see some increase in bidding competition as we head towards the spring,” Ryan McLaughlin, Wahi’s economist, said in the report. 

“However, given how similar competition levels have been in the first two months of the year, all eyes will be on the March data,” he continues.

McLaughlin says with interest rates not expected to rise or fall and economic uncertainty persisting into 2026, home prices aren’t expected to increase or decrease exponentially. 

“You could say nothing changes if nothing changes, but, if conditions continue to remain stable, some homebuyers who have been standing on the sidelines could be encouraged to enter the market in the coming months,” he wrote in the report. 

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Cover photo from Wikimedia Commons