Insights

Notes from the navigators.

Straight-talking market updates, buyer and seller guides, and local intelligence across the GTA.

Local history

The war that built Durham: six places between Ajax and Bowmanville where the Second World War actually happened

If you live in south Ajax, your street is almost certainly named after a sailor. A shell-filling plant the size of twelve square kilometres stood where your subdivision is. Ten kilometres east, Britain ran a secret agent school on the lakeshore. In Bowmanville, German U-boat commanders tunnelled under a boys' school. This is the history under Durham Region — what happened, what is still standing, and how to go and see it.

September 12, 2026Read →
Market data

The same house, $357,000 apart — what a four-bedroom detached costs across Whitby

A four-bedroom detached home sold for a median of $1,195,000 in Rural Whitby and $838,000 in Downtown Whitby over the past two years. Same bedroom count, same house type, one town — a 43% difference that is location and nothing else. And the neighbourhoods where buyers bid over asking are not the expensive ones. Ten Whitby communities, 898 sales, with the method shown.

September 7, 2026Read →
For Sellers

The first two weeks decide the price — what 4,301 Oshawa sales say about time on market

Homes that sold in Oshawa within a week got 101.1% of their asking price. Homes that took more than sixty days got 96.4%. The gap is worth about $34,000 on a typical Oshawa house — and the median sold price is almost identical in both groups, so this is not simply cheap homes selling fast. Here is the full picture from five years of TRREB sold data, with the method shown.

September 6, 2026Read →
Development Watch

The Durham Meadoway — a 27 km linear park from Pickering to Oshawa, and what it means for your street

A hydro corridor running the width of Durham is being reimagined as a continuous trail and linear park, from Rouge National Urban Park to Simcoe Street in Oshawa. Ottawa put money behind it in August. Here is what is actually funded, where it runs through each town, and what the research says about living near a trail.

August 26, 2026Read →
Market Watch

GTA Housing Market Update, July 2026 — a quiet summer that quietly tightened

Sales held flat while new listings fell 17.8%. TRREB's July report shows a market with less choice and less room to negotiate heading into the fall — here's the GTA picture and what it means for buyers and sellers.

August 5, 2026Read →
Market Watch

Durham Region Market Snapshot, July 2026 — the GTA's value and speed play

Durham was the most affordable and fastest-moving of the GTA's major regions in July — 3.4 months of inventory, homes selling in 27 days at 98% of asking. Where each city sits, from Oshawa to Uxbridge.

August 5, 2026Read →
Market Watch

Peel Region Market Snapshot, July 2026 — the busiest market, with the most choice

Peel posted the highest sales count of the GTA's western regions in July and carried 5.0 months of inventory — the most breathing room we track. Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon, side by side.

August 5, 2026Read →
Market Watch

Halton Region Market Snapshot, July 2026 — the premium end, where pricing precision matters

Halton carried the highest average price of the western GTA in July and a slightly more measured pace — 36 days to sell at 96% of asking. Oakville, Burlington, Milton and Halton Hills, compared.

August 5, 2026Read →
Development Watch

Seaton and the North Pickering build-out — what 70,000 new neighbours mean for Durham

One of Ontario's largest planned communities is rising in north Pickering — up to 70,000 residents, 35,000 jobs, and a toll-free Highway 407. Here's what Seaton means for buyers, sellers, and investors across Durham.

July 30, 2026Read →
Policy Watch

Mississauga's renoviction by-law: what landlords and renters need to know

Mississauga now requires a licence to evict a tenant for renovations. Here's what the new by-law does, when it starts, and what it means whether you own a rental or live in one.

July 27, 2026Read →
Market Watch

GTA Market Watch, June 2026 — what it means for Ajax

Sales up 9.4%, listings down again, price declines narrowing — TRREB's June report confirms the tightening. Where the Ajax benchmark sits, and why homes here sold in 20 days at full asking.

July 5, 2026Read →
Market Watch

GTA Market Watch, May 2026 — what it means for Ajax

The GTA's May numbers — sales, prices and the HPI benchmark — and what they actually mean for Ajax buyers and sellers.

June 3, 2026Read →
For Buyers

Buying in Ajax? Here's what the numbers are actually telling you

Prices look like they're falling one month and climbing the next — and both can be true. Here's how to read HPI vs. sold price so you know what you'll really pay.

June 2, 2026Read →