Because of its place at the head of the country in terms of population, Toronto has always also been the default city when it comes to real estate news. Condos for sale in downtown Toronto were the first of their kind to really break the tradition of a single family stand alone unit. In fact, the city was also the first place to position condo living as the ultimate in modern urban lifestyles, a fad which has caught on across the country.

Because of its preeminent place in demographics, the city of Toronto tends to be the one against which all other cities in Canada are measured. Real estate jobs in this metropolis reflect the markets in other areas, or so the thinking goes. In fact, you often can't find an article in or on the news about real estate in Canada without reference to the price of housing in its largest city.

There are problems with this approach, despite the fact that Toronto offers some of the most unique real estate options in the country. One common misperception is that downtown Toronto real estate is bound to be more expensive than that found anywhere else in the country. However, recent news story comparisons have shown this to be quite false.

While citizens all over Canada think that Toronto housing may be unaffordable, the fact is that compared with at least one other city Toronto homes are downright cheap. A condominium in downtown Toronto is likely to cost from one quarter to one half less than it would in the city of Vancouver, thousands of kilometres to the west. In fact, at one point a couple of years ago the prairie city of Calgary had also overtaken the heartland in terms of real estate prices, however a market correction has brought the price of the average home back under that of one in Toronto.

So if you do see an article saying that the average condos for sale in downtown Toronto are more expensive than anywhere else in the country, don't believe it. In fact, a recent survey suggested that Vancouver is the most unaffordable real estate city in the world, after Hong Kong!

Keep that in mind as you look at Toronto houses for sale. While a condominium in Toronto may seem expensive, it is not as pricey as it could be if you were shopping somewhere else in the country.