Overbidding has officially returned to dozens of GTA neighbourhoods ahead of the spring selling season, with multiple areas across the region entering sellers' territory last month, according to real estate agency Wahi's latest market report. 

Overall, the GTA real estate market saw 76 neighbourhoods (25.1 per cent) move into overbidding territory in February, up from 0 per cent in January. An additional 17 neighbourhoods (5.6 per cent) were selling at asking and 210 neighbourhoods (69.3 per cent) were in underbidding territory. 

The report notes that the last time the GTA saw any neighbourhoods in the overbidding territory was back in November 2023, with 16 areas consistently seeing homes sold above their asking price. 

"While the start of the year was defined by nearly all of the GTA's neighbourhoods being in underbidding territory, we were still seeing bidding wars break out at specific price points, particularly for houses listed below $1 million," said Wahi CEO Benjy Katchen.

Zero per cent of GTA neighbourhoods were in overbidding territory in January 2024. Source: Wahi. 

"Some homes in this price range have been getting a lot of attention, occasionally selling for several hundred thousands over asking — and attracting up to 60 or more offers — even if the overall market trend was one of underbidding." 

The real estate agency compared the difference between median list and sold prices to determine whether a neighbourhood was in overbidding or underbidding territory, excluding those with fewer than five transactions in a given month. 

The report found that last month's top overbidding neighbourhoods were scattered across the GTA, including parts of Ajax, Brampton, Markham, Pickering, and Toronto. 

The hottest neighbourhood for overbidding in February was Victoria Square, Markham, with a median overbid amount of approximately $255,000. Salem Heights in Ajax followed behind with a median overbid amount of $141,000. 

Other neighbourhoods on the top five list for overbidding included Lytton Park in Toronto ($110,000), Northwood Park in Brampton ($80,100), and Amberlea in Pickering ($75,100). 

On the other end of the spectrum, the leading underbidding neighbourhoods in the GTA generally had higher home prices. 

The top five underbidding GTA neighborhoods in February included York Mills (median underbid amount of $287,500), Eastlake, Oakville (-$98,000), Kingsway South, Etobicoke (-$75,000), King (-$69,000), and Esquesing, Milton (-$64,500). 

When it came to condo transactions, only 10 neighbourhoods (7.3 per cent) were in the overbidding territory in February, with an additional six (4.4 per cent) selling at-asking, and 122 (88.4 per cent) in underbidding territory.