Plus, on top of all the violence and gruelling commute, property prices in Toronto are now declining. From May to June a decline of around 1% on average. On Southcote's $600k budget thats a loss of $6k in one month.

Wouldn't falling prices be a good thing for Southcote?

Not if the trend continued - unless he is planning to rent instead.

Surely you don't imagine a long term downward trend in house prices in Toronto while there's a long term upward trend in Halifax? I find that idea far fetched. I don't think the one month trend will matter when considered over five years or more.

There is a case that moving somewhere with cheaper property makes the best use of the $600,000 but only if the family is prepared not to move again. Already giving up property in the UK for property in Canada is stepping out of the mainstream, a move to a backwater such as Halifax followed by a move to a city such as Toronto or Vancouver would be financially brutal.

I understand your argument but it does assume that already high-priced cities like Toronto and Vancouver will continue to outpace lower-priced cities like Halifax forever. In my experience the opposite tends to happen. Bigger cities with stronger economies tend to lead the real estate market but then they plateau whilst the rest catch up. This is what has been going on in the UK for the last few years. The house price boom was led by London and other southern hotspots. These then slowed while many northern cities caught up and closed a lot of the price gap. In the UK the main areas of growth are now only in areas like Scotland & N.I which started off the cheapest. I would expect we will see the same trend in Canada over the next few years. The current lower priced areas will likely experience the most price growth (probably excluding Alberta which is an exceptional case) in percentage terms.

I think they will but the point is moot. Southcote isn't a real estate investor but someone buying a house to live in so, even if he can choose between cities, the potential future rate of house price change is a pretty minor consideration.

With the rate of growth and the steady transfer of industry into these primary areas.
Then I would expect them to outpace more rural areas and maintain the gap

Indeed you did. "Usurped" was a poor choice of vocabulary, and since I know how sensitive you are, I offer an unreserved apology for my boorishness.

Yes, that was my experience this morning. I parked at Finch at 7 am for an 8 am start at Queen's Park, but in fact was at the legislature at 7:25 am and had to suffer a 30 minute dawdle in Timmies.

This is what you get for listening to advice on this forum.

I am indeed a delicate flower, my poodle was educated in Riverdale. Still, I've taken no umbrage.

I think Southcote might want to look around Port Credit and Clarkson; in Mineloa, White Oaks or Lorne Park. That's not so far as Oakville, the houses have large lots and there are quality facilities. It's suburban and at the limit of both the commute and the money but it might appeal. Southcote should avoid the trap of thinking that Etobicoke, being away from the centre, is in anyway an acceptable place to live.

I'd agree with Souv's analysis - West Oak Trails, River Oaks, Glen Abbey, Wedgewood Creek, Falgarwood are Legoland; College Park was one of the first bits north of the QEW to be developed so has a haphazard mix of old & new; West & SW Oakville & Bronte tend to be either older properties "ripe for development" or more recent tear-downs with bigger houses and less garden on the same size lot. Old Oakville and Morrison would be nice but your $600k won't stretch far there.

FWIW we're at the top right corner of College Park near Trafalgar and Upper Middle, and find it a good compromise between character, space, neighbourhood amenities and affordability. It's verging on the Lego, but 25 years ago they didn't try and cram quite so much in a given space so the lots are larger and the houses set further back from the road than in newer developments (our lot's approx 50ft by 150ft). We looked at houses in West Oak Trails and Glen Abbey and were taken aback by the tiny gardens and general lack of space and crammed-together-ness.

Parking at Oakville and Bronte Go stations is still free. If you get to the carpark after about ten to eight in the morning don't expect to find a space (although you can rent a reserved space for, I think, around $50 or so per month). If you're not travelling downtown every day then a 10-ride ticket (i.e. 5 return journeys) is $53.50, or a monthly pass is $190. I worked out that was considerably less than the combined cost of fuel and parking, plus I get to read the paper for half an hour each way on the train.

As to the comments regarding crowding on GO trains, I guess it depends on the line and the time of day. I have never yet - except as a result of an earlier service being cancelled - not had a seat for the morning journey, and have only occasionally stood for part of the homeward commute, depending on which train I get and how finely I cut my walk from the office.

We're talking about Toronto in 2007 fer chrissake, not Tunbridge Wells in 1963.

To be honest, I have only a vague idea as to what part of Toronto refers to itself as "Leaside", but after reading your posts on the place I'd appreciate if someone could post the major street boundaries, so that I will know how to avoid it if I'm ever nearby.

Ha! Bayview and Eglinton. I assume they don't count the area south of Eg as it's warehouses and shops and car dealers. If you go far west of Bayview you're into Mount Pleasant (where we had the beer with Atlantic Xpat) which is a step up so I guess two blocks west of Bayview and the blocks east across to the park, all south of the cemetary/hospital. It may be that the residents don't count some blocks immediately south of the hospital as I know there to be some binnie creep from Bayview and Lawrence.

The key there is your last three words. Sure, in percentage terms, house prices in Scotland and parts of Northern England have outstripped the rises in London. But since for an equivalent property in London you start off at more than twice the price, in terms of absolute numbers you would have made more pounds over the same period in London. That is the difference between buying property as an investment and as a home. As an investor all you're interested in is the percentage return. As a resident you're interested in whether it's a decent and appropriate place to live, and an increase in value is a bonus.

Unless something seriously dramatic has happened to the housing market since I left a year ago, I would have thought "many northern cities caught up and closed a lot of the price gap" was overstating it quite a bit?

South Leaside, the more desirable area, is East of Bayview, North of Moore, South of Eglinton, West of Laird.

North Leaside is north of Eglinton, south of Sunnybrook, west of Laird ,East of Bayview.

The Bayview Extension allows easy and rapid access to the downtown, which is why so many professionals live there.

Leaside has its' own Lawn Bowling, Swimming Complex, Hockey Arena,Tennis Club, all can be walked to.