Even if owning property in Toronto will likely never be in the cards for you, keeping an eye on the city's topsy-turvy real estate market is like witnessing a car crash you can't look away from, especially with interest rates being what they are right now.

The landscape keeps changing beyond expectations each month as realtors are anxiously awaiting more good news from economists, many of whom are predicting further mortgage rate hikes and even higher costs for some consumer goods.

Notoriously overpriced and overhyped, Toronto's market has cooled substantially from the days of bidding wars and homes going for way over asking in just a matter of days. In some places, prices have fallen as a result of the substantial decrease in activity, with would-be buyers waiting on the sidelines until better financial times.

But, there are still some pockets in and around the city where home prices are still on the rise, up double digit percentages from this time last year.

RE/MAX has outlined these areas in a new report that looks at how the cost of the average home — detached homes specifically, mind you — have changed across the GTA so far in 2023 compared to up to this point in 2022.

Leading the growth is, predictably, Toronto's central downtown core including Palmerston-Little Italy, Trinity-Bellwoods and Dufferin Grove; prices here have increased 16.1 per cent to reach $2,468,708 by June of this year.

Also notably up is Cabbagetown, where prices for standalone homes have hit a whopping $3,111,667, a jump of 11.7 per cent from the same time in 2022; and Rosedale and Moore Park, where prices climbed 4.3 per cent year-over-year to $4,337,829.

The most significant price drops, on the other hand, were in Cedarvale and Oakwood Village area, where prices plummeted 16.7 per cent, from $2,685,109 to $2,237,784. The eastern edge of Scarborough likewise saw prices lessen by 13.5 per cent in the north (to an average of $1,164,215) and 13.8 per cent in the south (to $1,296,629).

As far as the volume of homes sold, the Bayview Village, Don Valley Village and Henry Farm area of North York was the place where the most homes changed hands by far, with 21.4 per cent more home sales by June this year versus last (142 vs. 117), though prices were down 10.8 per cent in the same time period (to $1,954,568).

The place with the least activity in Toronto proper during the last three months was, interestingly, the place where prices have spiked the most: Central Toronto, where detached home sales were down 36.8 per cent, from 38 to only 24.