In a city where the average selling price for a home sits at almost $1.2 million, it seem a distant, impossible fantasy to imagine buying a place in Toronto for less than $200,000. But a new study found that, while they’re certainly few and far between, it’s not exactly impossible — depending on where you go. The report by Point2Homes found that only 15 of Canada’s 50 largest cities have homes for sale for under $200,000, seven of which are in Ontario — including, surprise surprise, Toronto.

But don’t get your hopes up: the report found that homes under $200,000 represent just 0.04 per cent of the Toronto market. That’s just two homes found at the time the data was gathered.

However, an Ontario city took the top spot for the share of listings under $200,000 — a grand total of 3.13 per cent of Waterloo’s listings are under $200,000. And second place went to Ontario as well, with Kawartha Lakes reporting 2.62 per cent of all home listings coming in under $200,000.

The 13 other Canadian cities all sadly had less than 1 per cent of listings under $200,000, including Belleville at 0.48 per cent, Hamilton at 0.34 per cent, London at 0.28 per cent, Ottawa at 0.25 per cent and, in last place, Toronto at 0.04 per cent.

For the other 35 cities on the list, all had zero homes under $200,000. The Ontario cities joining those ranks include Richmond Hill, Oakville, Aurora, Markham, Vaughan, Caledon, Newmarket, Halton Hills, Milton, Whitby, Burlington, Brampton, Mississauga, Pickering, Ajax, Clarington, Oshawa, Niagara Falls, Guelph, Cambridge, Barrie, Kitchener, Brantford, Welland and Peterborough.

This is, somehow, an improvement from 2022, when only 12 cities had homes for sale for less than $200,000.

According to the report, if you’re looking to snatch up a home for under $200,000, your best bet is to head out of Canada’s larger cities and into places like Atlantic Canada: 44.53 per cent of listings in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia were under $200,000 and 36.59 per cent in Saint John, New Brunswick. The Prairies show similar promise, with a share of 28.94 per cent in Regina, 19.86 in Winnipeg and 18.56 in Edmonton.

But if you’re determined to remain in Toronto, act fast — it’s clear a home for less than $200,000 in the city is harder to come by than even a home on the Toronto Islands. Your best bet? This $150,000 houseboat in the Scarborough Bluffs.