Toronto average home prices have swelled beyond $1.3 million. If you can afford one, congratulations, you must be Bezos rich. But if you can't afford to buy a home in Canada's largest city, don't worry; you're not alone.

Many have been flocking to other Ontario cities, an urban exodus fuelled by runaway living costs and unlocked by the rise of remote work. Of course, this same exodus is driving up demand in these smaller markets, which are seeing notable spikes in prices.

Even 500 kilometres to the northwest of Toronto in the comparatively sleepy city of Sault Ste. Marie, high demand has home prices surging upwards at breakneck speed.

The Sault Ste. Marie Real Estate Board reported a slight year-over-year drop in sales numbers for January. Still, despite an apparent decline, the 123 sales recorded were over 20 per cent above the five-year average and almost 50 per cent above the ten-year average for that month.

And values are also soaring, the average selling price of a Sault Ste. Marie home jumping by an astonishing 33.3 per cent to a record-high of… wait... just $296,281?

That number may sound a bit on the cheap side, at least when stacked up against the Toronto market — sure, it's an unreasonable comparison to make, but we're going to make it anyway.

Even with Sault Ste. Marie shattering the record for average selling price, you could still buy four (technically 4.38) homes in that town for the average cost of a home in the Greater Toronto Area.

You get what you pay for, though, and although there are some charming neighbourhoods in Sault Ste. Marie like Cedar Heights, the downtown area is pretty bleak, dominated by a mall, entirely too much surface parking, and a massive industrial sector.

Still, despite rising costs, the city remains a bastion of affordability. In nearby Sudbury, the average home price is over $150K higher than Sault Ste. Marie, while the province-wide average is now pushing closer to the $1 million mark.

Sault Ste. Marie's rise in home prices is being attributed to the same supply and demand imbalance as seen in Toronto, the number of new listings dropping to a 30-year low for the month of January this year.