Vaughan Overtakes Brampton in Residential Low Rise Sales….

…for the first time in 10 years. In the first six months of this year, 1,308 sales of such homes were reported in Vaughan, up slightly from 1,178 in the same period of 2007, according to data compiled by RealNet Canada. From January to June, 1,239 sales of new low-rise homes were reported in Brampton, a 45-per-cent decline from 2,260 in the same period of 2007.

Vaughan’s detached-housing communities have gone against the common trend in the GTA toward smaller lots and more pedestrian-friendly urban planning. New-home buyers there can still find a fair number of new products on large lots in communities promoting privacy and a country lifestyle.

If a big lot is what you want, you’ll have to pay for it, however. Vaughan is the most expensive municipality in York Region for new single-family detached houses, with an average price of $583,908 reported over the first five months of 2008, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. This is a 4.3-per-cent increase from $559,653 in the same period of 2007, and a $70,000 premium over the average price of a new detached home — $513,261 — for all of York.