Danforth & Greektown vs Long Branch: 2026 Comparison

Published 10 September 2026 · By Jatin Dua, Broker of Record, RE/MAX Quantum Realty

Last updated 10 September 2026. Written by Jatin Dua, Broker of Record at RE/MAX Quantum Realty, 799 The Queensway, Etobicoke · Toronto neighbourhood comparison · 9 min read

Quick answer

These are opposite ends of the same city and they suit opposite people. Danforth & Greektown is a house market on a subway line; Long Branch is a mixed lakeshore village with more apartments than houses, a GO station and an accessible beach. One number ties them together and it is a strange one: in August 2026 the attached-home benchmark was $1,072,900 in E03 and $1,074,000 in W06 — about $1,100 apart. Everything else diverges. E03 ran 2.7 months of inventory against W06’s 4.6, and E03’s composite fell 5.62% year over year against W06’s 2.90%.

Opposite corners of the city, and one benchmark that matches

You can trace the two ends of old Toronto’s surface-transit map through these neighbourhoods. Long Branch is where the 501 Queen streetcar stops running west — Long Branch Loop is the terminus, shared with the 507 Long Branch and 508 Lake Shore, and Etobicoke Creek beyond it is the Mississauga line. Danforth Avenue is the eastern half of Line 2 Bloor-Danforth, running under the retail street from the Prince Edward Viaduct out toward Kingston Road.

Administratively, Long Branch is TRREB community “Long Branch” in district W06 and City neighbourhood #19 Long Branch — it kept both name and number through the 2022 restructure from 140 to 158 neighbourhoods, which is rarer than it sounds. Danforth & Greektown reports mainly into district E03, an eight-community district covering Broadview North, Crescent Town, Danforth, Danforth Village-East York, East York, O’Connor-Parkview, Playter Estates-Danforth and Woodbine-Lumsden, with the western end of Greektown straddling into E01 and the far east into E02.

The money in August 2026, district against district

Because these two sit in different districts, the cleanest apples-to-apples comparison is at district level, from TRREB’s August 2026 Market Watch. For context, the City of Toronto that month recorded 1,767 sales, an average of $979,684, a median of $770,000, 4.6 months of inventory, 97% of list and 35 days on market, with a composite benchmark of $918,400, down 3.73% year over year.

August 2026, TRREB district	E03 — Danforth & Greektown	W06 — Long Branch
Sales, all types	44	74
Average price	$1,100,458	$867,508
Median price	$1,117,500	$730,000
New listings / active listings	94 / 155	189 / 372
Months of inventory	2.7	4.6
Sale-to-list / days on market	100% / 33	98% / 38
Detached — sales / average	29 / $1,179,152	16 / $1,371,688
Condo apartment — sales / average	3 / $384,000	44 / $642,661
HPI composite (year over year)	$1,022,100 (−5.62%)	$818,500 (−2.90%)
HPI attached (year over year)	$1,072,900 (−6.79%)	$1,074,000 (−2.43%)
HPI apartment (year over year)	$474,600 (−5.14%)	$602,700 (−4.98%)

The row worth staring at

The attached-home benchmarks in these two districts sat roughly $1,100 apart in August 2026 — $1,072,900 in E03 and $1,074,000 in W06 — at opposite ends of the city, in completely different housing markets. But look at what each did over the year: E03’s attached benchmark fell 6.79% and W06’s fell 2.43%. Same price today, very different trajectory. That is the whole comparison in two numbers.

Note the median lines too. E03’s median of $1,117,500 came in above its average of $1,100,458. That is the reverse of essentially every other Toronto district, and it is the signature of a market made almost entirely of similar semis and detached houses with barely any condo sales at the bottom. W06 sits the normal way round — a $867,508 average against a $730,000 median — because 44 of its 74 August sales were condo apartments.

A semi on the Danforth against a detached by the lake

Community-level data is where the practical trade shows up. These are TRREB figures for Q1 2026 (January to March 2026), the most recent quarter published at community level and therefore about six months old.

Long Branch recorded 32 sales of all types, at an average of $995,150 and a median of $972,500, against 71 new listings and 31 active, at 98% of list and 39 days. Within that: detached 13 sales averaging $1,254K, median $1,235K, at 99% of list and 33 days; 7 condo townhouses averaging $807K; 4 semis averaging $928K; 3 attached/row averaging $1,161K; and 5 condo apartments averaging $538K at 82 days on market. Every one is a small sample.

The same quarter gave Danforth Village-East York 24 detached sales averaging $1,295K, median $1,250K, at 103% of list and 25 days, and 18 semi sales averaging $1,124K, median $1,110K, at 111% and 12 days. Elsewhere in E03, Woodbine-Lumsden detached averaged $1,198K on 17 sales, East York detached $1,222K on 17, and O’Connor-Parkview detached $1,003K on 17 with a median of $880K.

So the concrete trade looks like this. Around $1.12M buys you a semi-detached house on the Danforth, twelve days on market, and a bidding contest. Around $1.25M buys you a detached house in Long Branch, thirty-three days on market, and a negotiation. Roughly $130,000 and a whole extra wall, in exchange for a subway station replaced by a streetcar and a GO train.

Two spines, and the works on both

Both neighbourhoods have an active, disclosable disruption. Any agent who does not raise them is not doing the job.

Long Branch: the streetcar is not running. The TTC is rebuilding Long Branch Loop and the Lake Shore Boulevard West and Browns Line intersection from June 2026 through late 2026. The 507 Long Branch is suspended entirely and replaced by buses running Humber Loop to Long Branch Loop roughly every ten minutes; the 508 was suspended for the summer; the 501C is suspended; and the overnight 301 is shortened with a new 301L bus. Context worth having: the 507 was only restored on 19 November 2023, after 28 years folded into the 501 following the 26 March 1995 merger. Confirm live status on ttc.ca.

Danforth: the Ontario Line is being dug. Underground stations are coming at Pape — a Line 2 interchange, with a new platform built beneath and perpendicular to the existing Line 2 platforms — and at Cosburn, serving Pape Village. Tunnelling began on 20 April 2026, a $4.3 billion contract for the Pape tunnel section was signed in August 2026, and the total project is reported at $34 billion. Early 2030s, no firm date. The Pape station bus terminal was shut from 12 May 2024 to late 2025.

How the two disruptions differ

Long Branch’s is temporary, dated and mostly an inconvenience — buses instead of streetcars for a construction season. The Danforth’s is open-ended, runs into the next decade, and is concentrated on two specific streets. If you are buying on Pape Avenue or Cosburn Avenue, that belongs in your price, not in your optimism.

Everything else about getting around diverges too. Long Branch has Long Branch GO at 20 Brow Drive on the Lakeshore West line, interchanging with both TTC and MiWay, plus buses 110 Islington South and 123 Shorncliffe, and the QEW and Highway 427 interchange immediately west via Browns Line. The Danforth has eight Line 2 stations under one street, the DVP immediately west and south of the viaduct, and Danforth GO at 213 Main Street — which has no transit stop beside it and sits over 300 metres from Main Street subway station.

Who actually lives in each

Long Branch has 5,290 occupied dwellings and 11,360 people: 2,005 apartments in buildings under five storeys (37.9%), 1,545 single-detached (29.2%), 1,310 in buildings of five storeys or more (24.8%), 240 duplex flats, 95 semis (1.8%) and 80 rows (1.5%). Owner-occupied 50.3% — an even split with renters. Median household income $83,000 in 2020, average dwelling value $1,088,000 in 2021. Add the apartment lines and there are 3,315 apartment units against 1,545 detached houses. 37.7% of the stock predates 1960 and 17.2% was built between 2011 and 2021.

City neighbourhood #66 Danforth has 3,910 households and 9,305 people: 1,345 low-rise apartments (34.4%), 1,255 semis (32.1%), 685 detached (17.5%), 395 households in buildings of five storeys or more (10.1%), 175 duplex flats and 35 rows. Owner-occupied 63.4%, median household income $98,000 in 2020, and 76.3% built before 1960 — the oldest stock profile in this series.

Put simply: Long Branch is an apartment neighbourhood with a defended house core and a fifth of its stock built in the last fifteen years. The Danforth is a house neighbourhood with almost no condominium and three-quarters of its stock built before 1960.

Schools, and one ranking I am not going to give you

The schools serving Long Branch include James S. Bell Junior Middle School, Seventh Street Junior School, David Hornell Junior School, John English Junior Middle School and Second Street Junior Middle School on the TDSB side, École élémentaire Micheline-Saint-Cyr with Viamonde, The Holy Trinity Catholic School in New Toronto, and Lakeshore Collegiate Institute as the secondary school.

I am not going to put a rating beside those names, because I do not have a sourced one I would stand behind, and inventing one to fill a column is how bad property writing works. What I can tell you is how to check: use the TDSB “Find Your School” tool with the exact address, because catchment assignment is not something an agent can confirm for you anywhere in this city.

For the Danforth I do have numbers, and they are the widest spread I have seen on one street. Fraser Institute, data year 2023/24 — and both the TDSB and OPSBA dispute the methodology, with OPSBA calling the rankings “a flawed picture.” Secondary: Malvern CI at 15 of 742 with a rating of 9.1, Riverdale CI at 33, Monarch Park CI at 86, Danforth CTI at 422, East York CI at 478, and Marc Garneau CI at 666 — which hosts a selective TOPS programme, so its score reflects the whole-school cohort. Elementary: Pape Avenue PS at 42 of 3,047 with 9.7, Jackman Avenue at 351, Earl Beatty at 643 and Blake Street PS at 1,703 with 5.8. On one avenue, 15th to 1,703rd.

What will genuinely annoy you in each

Long Branch

Buses instead of streetcars for the season, and a service history showing the 507 disappeared for 28 years once already.
A very thin condo market. Five condo apartment sales in Q1 2026 averaging $538K, at 82 days on market against 39 for the neighbourhood overall — and W06 was carrying 232 active condo apartment listings in August 2026. Plan a slow exit.
The severance fight is the local politics. The Long Branch Neighbourhood Association reports roughly 18 consecutive wins at the Toronto Local Appeal Body, mostly self-represented, and the City wrote Long Branch Neighbourhood Character Guidelines in 2017 because the area was changing faster than most. No other South Etobicoke neighbourhood has its own guidelines.
Counterweight: on Toronto Police 2025 data Long Branch recorded assault at 577.9 per 100,000 against a city figure of 767.9, break and enter 182.5 against 189.5, auto theft 159.7 against 225, theft from a motor vehicle 129.3 against 212, robbery 45.6 against 79, and no homicides and no shootings.

The Danforth side

There is effectively no condominium. Three condo apartment sales in the entire E03 district in August 2026, averaging $384,000. If you want elevator living, or a place to downsize into later without leaving the neighbourhood, it is not here.
You compete hard in a falling market. 2.7 months of inventory, 100% of list in August, 103% and 21 days year to date across 475 sales — while the composite benchmark fell 5.62% over the year. Selling fast and over asking is evidence of underpricing strategy, not of rising value.
Pre-1960 stock at 76.3%, which makes wiring, panels and drain laterals recurring costs rather than surprises.
Years of Ontario Line construction at Pape and Cosburn with no firm completion date.

IF YOUR LONG BRANCH PLAN IS BUY, SEVER, BUILD TWO — READ THIS FIRSTTwo things stand between that plan and a profit here. First, the appeal record: roughly 18 consecutive Toronto Local Appeal Body wins for the neighbourhood association, mostly argued by residents themselves, backed by the City’s own 2017 Character Guidelines. Second, water. Hurricane Hazel killed six residents here in 1954 and destroyed more than 40 homes, and Marie Curtis Park is built on reclaimed floodplain land. Anything near Etobicoke Creek warrants a TRCA floodplain check before your conditions come off — not after.

What is being built: a $34 billion line and 16,000 units

For Long Branch it is Lakeview Village, 177 acres directly across Etobicoke Creek in Mississauga on the former Lakeview Generating Station site — approved for 12,000 units, raised to 16,000 by a 2023 ministerial order, with more than 45 acres of parkland and 1.5 million square feet of employment space. The first building started in October 2024 and first occupancies are expected in early 2029. It sits outside Toronto, outside the City’s planning control and directly across a creek from the quietest street in Long Branch.

For the Danforth it is the Ontario Line plus a planning framework that is not settled. The Danforth Avenue Planning Study ran from July 2014 to final recommendations in 2022; OPA 573 with SASP 772, covering the Don Valley to Coxwell, was enacted on 7 April 2022 through By-law 269-2022 and limits height in Policy Area A to 24 metres excluding mechanical penthouse — but it was appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal and its current in-force status is not confirmed. Live applications include 1095 and 1111 Danforth Avenue, 2451 to 2495 Danforth Avenue, and 1117 Danforth Avenue, which proposes 108 affordable and rent-controlled units.

One more contrast worth naming: since December 2021 the Danforth has been a permanent complete street, with protected bike lanes on both sides, one traffic lane in each direction and 24/7 parking and loading — cycling volumes up 67% and 133% at two monitoring locations, vehicle volumes down 15 to 18%. Long Branch’s retail spine, Lake Shore Boulevard West, stays low-rise and independent-heavy, with Marie Curtis Park, a supervised beach, the Waterfront Trail, the Arsenal Lands, the Long Branch Centennial Arena and the local library behind it.

Where I would send you

Choose the Danforth if you want a freehold house on a subway line and you accept old brick, an offer date and a transit project running into the next decade.
Choose Long Branch if you want a detached house, a beach at the end of the street, a GO station and the QEW — and you can live with a construction season of bus replacements and a neighbourhood that argues about every severance.
Choose Long Branch also if you want a condo or condo townhouse at all. E03 does not have that market; W06 has 232 active condo apartment listings, which is leverage going in and a queue coming out.
Choose neither if you want an easy drive from the east end or an easy subway ride from the lakeshore. Each gives you one and refuses the other.
If you are comparing an attached home in each, remember the benchmarks were roughly $1,100 apart in August 2026 but moving at very different speeds. Compare direction, not just level.

District numbers move every month and community numbers lag by two quarters, which is why I keep the current picture on my market report page. If you are trying to work out what your existing home is worth before you move across the city, start with a home valuation.

Common questions

Which is cheaper, the Danforth or Long Branch?

It depends on the product. In August 2026 the E03 district average was $1,100,458 against W06’s $867,508, but W06’s lower figure comes from 44 of its 74 sales being condo apartments. Compare detached houses and the direction flips: 29 E03 detached sales averaged $1,179,152 while 16 W06 detached sales averaged $1,371,688. The Danforth is the cheaper house market; Long Branch is the cheaper entry market.

Are the streetcars running to Long Branch right now?

Not normally. The TTC is rebuilding Long Branch Loop and the Lake Shore Boulevard West and Browns Line intersection from June 2026 through late 2026. The 507 Long Branch is suspended and replaced by buses running from Humber Loop roughly every ten minutes, the 508 was suspended for the summer, the 501C is suspended, and the overnight 301 is shortened with a 301L bus. Check ttc.ca for live status.

Why did the two districts’ attached benchmarks end up almost identical?

Coincidence of level, not of market. In August 2026 the MLS Home Price Index attached benchmark was $1,072,900 in E03 and $1,074,000 in W06. Over the preceding year E03’s attached benchmark fell 6.79% and W06’s fell 2.43%, so they arrived at the same place from different directions. Use the year-over-year change, not the level, when you are judging momentum.

Where can I buy a condo — Long Branch or the Danforth?

Long Branch, without question. W06 recorded 44 condo apartment sales in August 2026 at an average of $642,661 and a median of $595,000, against 232 active listings — plenty of choice. E03 recorded 3 condo apartment sales that month, averaging $384,000, and City neighbourhood #66 Danforth counts only 395 households in buildings of five storeys or more out of 3,910. The Danforth is a house market.

Is Long Branch a good place to buy and sever the lot?

It is the hardest place in South Etobicoke to try it. The Long Branch Neighbourhood Association reports roughly 18 consecutive wins at the Toronto Local Appeal Body, mostly self-represented, and the City adopted Long Branch Neighbourhood Character Guidelines in 2017 because the area was changing quickly — no other South Etobicoke neighbourhood has its own. Budget for opposition, delay and legal cost.

How long will Ontario Line construction affect the Danforth?

Into the next decade. Tunnelling began 20 April 2026 and a $4.3 billion contract for the Pape tunnel section was signed in August 2026, with total project cost reported at $34 billion. Metrolinx says early 2030s and gives no firm date. The stations affecting this area are Pape, a Line 2 interchange, and Cosburn at Cosburn and Pape. The Pape station bus terminal was closed from 12 May 2024 to late 2025.

Moving across the city, east end to lakeshore

Tell me what you own now and what you are trying to get out of the move, and I will price both sides honestly — the semi you would sell on the Danforth and the detached you would buy in Long Branch, or the reverse. If the move does not pay for itself, that is the answer I will give you.

Book a 15-minute call or call or text 833-330-1925.

No pressure, no drip campaign. If the answer is “neither, wait six months”, I will tell you that.

Danforth & Greektown vs Long Branch: East End or Lakeshore?