The Windsor area is benefiting from home buyers moving out of the Greater Toronto Area in search of more affordable options.
According to the Royal LePage House Price Survey and Market Survey Forecast, home price appreciation slowed across Canada in the second quarter of 2018, marked primarily by softness in the GTA.
But Windsor posted some of the biggest gains in the country both during the second quarter and year-over-year.
The average home price was $241,081 in the second quarter of 2018, compared to $207,766 in the second quarter of 2017.
That's a 16% jump compared to the same time a year ago, the third-highest year-over year increase in Canada.
The average price for a two-storey home in the Windsor-area was $245,418 in the second quarter of 2018, a 20.4% year-over-year increase, the second-highest in Canada.
Condominium prices also hit $194,765 in the second quarter, a 19.1% year-over-year increase, fourth-highest in the country.
"Despite recent price relief in the GTA market, buyers have continued to look to other Southern Ontario cities for housing affordability," said Phil Soper, president and CEO, Royal LePage. "Our experts on the ground are seeing an increasing number of young families that are willing to say goodbye to the big city life, uprooting from the GTA altogether and migrating to more affordable regions in the province."
"When you add an inflow of baby boomer retirees who are drawn to the same smaller cities for their charm and quiet appeal, it's not surprising that home price appreciation rates in Windsor, Belleville, Niagara and Kingston are among the highest in the country, noticeably outpacing those being seen in the GTA," says Soper.