Weihua Liu

In urban geography, much attention has been paid to spatial patterns of housing. However, few attempts have been made to analyze resale activities in the housing market due to a lack of detailed data. This research explores the spatial patterns of the resale housing market in the Greater Toronto Area and changes between 1996 and 2001, with a focus on sales volume and average price. Using the single-family resale transaction records together with census data, this research employs several methods (i.e. mapping in GIS, spatial autocorrelation, factor analysis, K-means clustering) to reveal a number of spatial patterns.

In general, spatial patterns are temporally stable but the presence of heterogeneity in resale activities within the GTA is significant. Both the City of Toronto and the fringe municipalities are active markets, but the latter have been growing more rapidly. Together, they account for over 75% of total resales in the GTA. The most expensive districts cluster within the City of Toronto while the districts in outer suburbs are sluggish with cheaper houses. Detached house sales occur across the GTA; whereas apartment transactions concentrate in the inner area. An attempt is also made to explore the factors responsible for the spatial variations. Based on the similarity of resale activities, seven submarkets are defined within the GTA using factor analysis and K-means, all with distinctive characteristics.