Toronto homeowners who live in the vicinity of the forthcoming Eglinton Crosstown LRT may soon find that having to deal with a painful decade of disruptive construction was worth the added value the transit line will mean for their properties.

New numbers from condo listing site Strata show that the 19 km-long, 25-stop transit route has already caused a hike in real estate prices in the areas surrounding it, even though its completion has been delayed numerous times and it isn't expected to open to the public until sometime after fall 2022.

The company's experts examined price-per-square-foot data for condos within 900 m of every stop on the line dating back to when work on it began in 2011, and found that the anticipation of the Crosstown has increased home values in some areas by as much as 135 per cent.

The biggest price jumps have so far been on both ends of the line, where homes will now have a more direct, speedier public transportation connection to new parts of the city.

For example, near Kennedy Station in Scarborough — which serves as the LRT's easternmost terminus until a future extension comes along — the average price of a home now sits around $500 per square foot, compared to $212 per square foot just five years ago.

And just one stop westward the same phenomenon is occurring, with prices climbing 134 per cent in the same time frame.

On the westernmost end of the route, values have jumped 67 per cent at Mount Dennis station, but 103 per cent one station eastward — and this is before work on the westward extension to Pearson Airport has begun and, as mentioned, years before the Crosstown itself is even operational.

The experts at Strata believe that those properties furthest out, as well as those in less gentrified and developed areas, will continue to see values skyrocket the most as the transit line "breathes new life" into certain neighbourhoods across the city.

Still, even those condos near the middle of the LRT closest to Mount Pleasant and Eglinton stations have seen values spike an average of 63 per cent in the last five years.

These hubs are also where new condo developers have been focusing, which in turn has ended up leading to even greater price appreciation on the farthest reaches of the tracks, where housing options are perhaps more limited.

Those lucky enough to own anywhere along Eglinton but looking to relocate might be prudent to continue to weather the irritating construction and hold on to their property for at least a few more years until the full benefit off the Crosstown can be felt.