Published 2 November 2026 · By Jatin Dua, Broker of Record, RE/MAX Quantum Realty
Scarborough is cheaper: its detached homes sold for a sales-weighted median of about $957,000 in January–October 2026, against about $1.59 million in North York. North York has far more subway access through Lines 1 and 4. Both pay Toronto’s 2026 tax rate of 0.767311% and share the same school boards.
This guide is for buyers deciding between North York and Scarborough for 2027, two large parts of the City of Toronto that each hold over 600,000 people. You will get 2026 prices by home type and by TRREB district, how fast homes sold, the transit and tax facts I confirmed, and a plain answer on who each area suits.
Which TRREB districts make up North York and Scarborough?
North York and Scarborough were separate cities until they merged into Toronto in 1998. The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) does not report them as single areas. It splits Toronto into numbered districts, so I combined the districts whose communities sit in each former city.
- North York (7 districts): C06 (Bathurst Manor, Clanton Park), C07 (Willowdale West, Newtonbrook West, Lansing-Westgate, Westminster-Branson), C12 (Bridle Path-Sunnybrook-York Mills, St. Andrew-Windfields), C13 (Don Mills, Parkwoods-Donalda, Victoria Village), C14 (Willowdale East, Newtonbrook East), C15 (Bayview Village, Don Valley Village, Hillcrest Village and others) and W05 (Downsview, York University Heights, Glenfield-Jane Heights, Humber Summit and others).
- Scarborough (8 districts): E04 to E11, from Clairlea and Kennedy Park to Agincourt, Guildwood, West Hill and Malvern.
I left out C04 and W04. Each mixes a few North York communities with parts of the old City of Toronto or York, so adding them would blur the numbers.
Is Scarborough cheaper than North York?
Yes, for every home type. Across the Scarborough districts, detached district medians ran from $866,500 to $1,148,250 in January–October 2026. In the North York districts they ran from $971,250 to $3,200,000. The sales-weighted figure below (each district’s median weighted by its number of sales) gives a fair single number for each area.
| Home type | North York (weighted median) | North York sales | Scarborough (weighted median) | Scarborough sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detached | $1,590,591 (−5.8%) | 1,150 (+15.5%) | $956,683 (−8.9%) | 1,598 (−8.0%) |
| Semi-detached | $879,707 (−7.6%) | 359 (−4.3%) | $834,073 (−4.7%) | 168 (−9.7%) |
| Freehold townhouse | $983,661 (−13.3%) | 90 (−7.2%) | $795,600 (−9.8%) | 149 (−12.9%) |
| Condo apartment | $554,954 (−7.8%) | 1,862 (+0.3%) | $459,502 (−11.3%) | 916 (−5.8%) |
Source: TRREB MLS data via REALM, January–October 2026 vs the same period of 2025. North York = C06, C07, C12, C13, C14, C15, W05. Scarborough = E04–E11. Weighted medians are my calculation from district medians and sales counts; they are not official TRREB medians.
The North York detached figure is pulled up by C12, where the median was $3,200,000. Leave C12 out and the other six North York districts average about $1.4 million, still well above Scarborough. The biggest difference is in condos and detached homes; semis are close.
What do homes cost in each North York and Scarborough district?
District medians show how much price varies inside each area. Small districts with few sales can swing a lot, so read them as a guide, not a quote.
| District | Detached median | Condo apt median | Detached avg days |
|---|---|---|---|
| C06 North York | $1,295,444 | $491,000 | 29 |
| C07 North York | $1,445,000 | $578,000 | 32 |
| C12 North York | $3,200,000 | $1,112,500 | 45 |
| C13 North York | $1,515,000 | $560,000 | 26 |
| C14 North York | $1,691,900 | $568,500 | 36 |
| C15 North York | $1,411,000 | $526,750 | 29 |
| W05 North York | $971,250 | $450,000 | 34 |
| E04 Scarborough | $870,000 | $415,786 | 24 |
| E05 Scarborough | $1,148,250 | $510,000 | 22 |
| E06 Scarborough | $955,000 | $569,500 | 23 |
| E07 Scarborough | $1,003,000 | $450,000 | 27 |
| E08 Scarborough | $938,750 | $440,000 | 29 |
| E09 Scarborough | $866,500 | $450,000 | 27 |
| E10 Scarborough | $1,025,000 | $380,000 | 27 |
| E11 Scarborough | $910,000 | $461,250 | 29 |
Source: TRREB MLS data via REALM, January–October 2026. District community names from TRREB’s Q2 2026 Toronto community reports.
W05 in northwest North York is priced much like Scarborough. E05 (L’Amoreaux, Steeles, Tam O’Shanter-Sullivan) is Scarborough’s priciest detached district. For more, see North York house prices by district and Scarborough house prices by district.
How fast are homes selling in North York vs Scarborough?
Scarborough freehold homes sold faster. Detached homes there averaged about 26 days on market in 2026, against about 33 in North York (both sales-weighted across districts). Condo apartments averaged about 39 days in both. Every one of these figures was a few days slower than in 2025.
Detached sales rose 15.5% in North York but fell 8.0% in Scarborough. North York also sold about twice as many condo apartments, which reflects the large condo clusters along Yonge and Sheppard. For sellers, slower sales mean pricing right from day one matters more than it did in 2024 or 2025. A home priced above recent district sales tends to sit, and buyers notice the days adding up.
Instant Home Valuation
What’s your home
worth today?
Answer six quick questions and get an instant value range built from current Toronto & GTA sale data — property type, size, condition, lot and location all weighted the way a real pricing conversation weighs them. Takes about ninety seconds.
Reading recent GTA sale data…
Building your estimate
Estimated market value
—
$0–$0
Most likely value $0 · roughly $0 per square foot
What moved the number
Starting from the area baseline for your property type, here’s what each answer added or subtracted.
Market context
Recent local averages for comparison.
—
A range is a starting point.
A strategy is what sells.
This model doesn’t know that your neighbour’s identical semi went $80,000 over asking last month, or which two upgrades actually pay back in your area. That conversation is free and takes twenty minutes.
Which has better transit, North York or Scarborough?
North York has more subway. Line 1 Yonge–University has stations including York Mills, Sheppard–Yonge, North York Centre and Finch on the Yonge side, and Wilson, Sheppard West, Finch West, York University and Pioneer Village on the west side. Line 4 Sheppard runs entirely within North York, from Sheppard–Yonge to Don Mills.
Scarborough relies more on GO trains and buses right now. Line 3, the Scarborough RT, closed for good in July 2023 and was replaced by buses. Metrolinx is building the Scarborough Subway Extension, a 7.8 km extension of Line 2 from Kennedy to Sheppard Avenue and McCowan Road with three stations. Its project page gives no opening date. For GO, Scarborough has Lakeshore East stations (Scarborough, Eglinton, Guildwood and Rouge Hill) and Stouffville line stations (Kennedy, Agincourt and Milliken).
Line 5 Eglinton, which opened on 8 February 2026, links both. It runs from Mount Dennis to Kennedy, with stops at Don Mills Road and Leslie Street on the North York side and surface stops such as Golden Mile, Birchmount and Ionview on the way to Kennedy station in Scarborough. See my Line 5 Eglinton update for more.
By car, North York has Highways 400, 401 and 404, plus Allen Road and the Don Valley Parkway. Scarborough is crossed by Highway 401.
Are property taxes and land transfer tax the same in both?
Yes. Both are in the City of Toronto, so they pay the same 2026 residential rate of 0.767311%. On a home assessed at $700,000 by MPAC, that is about $5,371 for 2026. The real difference is the assessment, which tends to be higher on pricier North York homes.
Buyers in both also pay Toronto’s municipal land transfer tax on top of Ontario’s. That is a real extra cost compared with buying in Durham or York Region. My guide to land transfer tax in Toronto has worked examples.
Many North York detached homes sit near or above $1.5 million. At that price you need at least 20% down, and mortgage insurance is not available. Get a pre-approval that states your limit, and remember that the Bank of Canada raised its rate to 2.50% on 28 October 2026, with prime now at 4.70%.
What are the schools like in North York and Scarborough?
Both are served by the same four public boards: the Toronto District School Board, the Toronto Catholic District School Board, Conseil scolaire Viamonde and Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir. The school a child attends depends on the address, so check the TDSB or TCDSB school locator. For specific schools, see my lists of top schools in North York and top schools in Scarborough.
What is daily life like in North York vs Scarborough?
North York has two of Toronto’s major malls, Yorkdale and Fairview, and York University’s main Keele campus. Earl Bales Park includes the North York Ski Centre. Along Yonge and Sheppard you get dense condo living near the subway; further out are quiet streets of bungalows and larger rebuilt homes.
Scarborough has the Scarborough Bluffs, a lakeshore escarpment about 14 km long, and the Rouge Valley portion of Rouge National Urban Park. The Toronto Zoo, the University of Toronto Scarborough and Centennial College are all here, along with Scarborough Town Centre.
If you want a detached house in Toronto for under about $1 million, Scarborough is where the numbers work. If you want to live on a subway line today, or your budget is well over $1.5 million, North York gives you more choice. In my view, the Scarborough subway extension could help areas near Sheppard and McCowan over time, but I would not pay a premium now for a line with no published opening date.
Who should pick North York?
- Condo buyers who want to be near Line 1 or Line 4, with about 1,860 condo apartment sales to choose from in 2026.
- Move-up buyers with a budget of $1.4 million or more for a detached home.
- Families or staff tied to York University, or anyone who drives the 401, 404 or 400 every day.
Who should pick Scarborough?
- First-time and move-up buyers who want a Toronto detached house for close to $950,000.
- Buyers who value the lake, the Bluffs and Rouge National Urban Park.
- Commuters who can use Lakeshore East GO, Line 5 or the Stouffville line.
- Condo buyers on a tighter budget: the weighted condo median was about $95,000 lower than North York’s.
What to do next
- Pick the TRREB districts that match your budget using the table above.
- Get a written pre-approval and check whether your price crosses $1.5 million.
- Test your commute at rush hour from the exact street, by subway, GO or car.
- Check school zoning with the TDSB and TCDSB locators.
- If you own now, get a current value on your home so you know what you can spend.
Need help with this? Talk to me.
I’m Jatin Dua, Broker of Record at RE/MAX Quantum Realty, and I’m the best agent to do this kind of work for you in Toronto and across the GTA. Over $100 million in GTA sales and 100+ families helped sell. Feel free to contact me any time: call or text 833-330-1925 or email [email protected].
Frequently asked questions
Is North York better than Scarborough?
Neither is better for everyone. North York has more subway stations and condo choice, but its detached homes sold for a sales-weighted median of about $1.59 million in January–October 2026. Scarborough’s was about $957,000, and it has the Bluffs and Rouge park. For 2027, budget and transit needs usually decide it.
Is Scarborough cheaper than North York in 2027?
Yes. Based on TRREB MLS data for January–October 2026, Scarborough was cheaper for every home type. Sales-weighted medians were about $957,000 versus $1.59 million for detached homes and about $460,000 versus $555,000 for condo apartments. Some North York districts, such as W05, are priced close to Scarborough.
Which TRREB districts are in North York?
For this comparison, North York is TRREB districts C06, C07, C12, C13, C14, C15 and W05, covering areas such as Willowdale, Bayview Village, Don Mills, York Mills and Downsview. Districts C04 and W04 mix North York with old Toronto or York, so I left them out of the 2026 figures.
Which TRREB districts are in Scarborough?
Scarborough is TRREB districts E04 to E11. These include Clairlea, Dorset Park and Kennedy Park (E04), L’Amoreaux (E05), Birch Cliff and Cliffside (E06), Agincourt (E07), Guildwood and Cliffcrest (E08), Woburn (E09), West Hill and Highland Creek (E10) and Malvern (E11). All 2026 figures here combine those eight districts.
Does Scarborough have a subway in 2027?
Not beyond Kennedy station, as of November 2026. Line 3, the Scarborough RT, closed in July 2023 and was replaced by buses. The Line 2 extension from Kennedy to Sheppard and McCowan is under construction, but Metrolinx has not published an opening date. Line 5 Eglinton, opened in February 2026, reaches Kennedy.
Are property taxes the same in North York and Scarborough?
Yes, the rate is the same because both are in the City of Toronto. The 2026 total residential rate is 0.767311%, so a home assessed at $700,000 pays about $5,371. Bills differ because assessments differ. Buyers in both also pay Toronto’s municipal land transfer tax on top of Ontario’s.
How fast are houses selling in Scarborough?
Detached homes in Scarborough averaged about 26 days on market from January to October 2026, based on TRREB MLS data via REALM across districts E04 to E11. That compares with about 33 days in North York. Detached sales in Scarborough fell 8.0% from 2025, while the median fell 8.9%.
Which school boards serve North York and Scarborough?
The same four public boards serve both: the Toronto District School Board, the Toronto Catholic District School Board, Conseil scolaire Viamonde and Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir. The school a child attends depends on the exact address, so use the TDSB or TCDSB locator before buying in either area in 2027.
Sources
- City of Toronto: Property Tax Rates and Fees (2026)
- TRREB Community Report, Toronto Central, Q2 2026
- TRREB Community Report, Toronto East, Q2 2026
- Metrolinx: Scarborough Subway Extension
- Line 5 Eglinton (Wikipedia)
- Line 3 Scarborough (Wikipedia)
- North York (Wikipedia)
- Scarborough, Toronto (Wikipedia)
Related reading
- Mississauga vs Oakville in 2027: Prices, Commute and Which Fits You
- Brampton vs Mississauga in 2027: Prices, Commute and Which Fits You
- Markham vs Richmond Hill in 2027: Prices, Commute and Which Fits You
- Vaughan vs Markham in 2027: Prices, Commute and Which Fits You
About the author — Jatin Dua, Toronto and GTA real estate broker
I am Jatin Dua, Broker of Record and co-founder of RE/MAX Quantum Realty Inc., Brokerage, Unit 101, 799 The Queensway, Toronto. I work with buyers and sellers across Toronto and the GTA and have helped more than 100 families sell. Four-plus years of active GTA transactions and over $100 million in sales volume.
Reach me at [email protected] or 833-330-1925, or book a call.