Scarborough · OntarioPrivate

Private mortgage lending in Scarborough

Funded in ~7-14 days. Equity-based. 12-18 month bridge to B or A pricing. East Toronto — the GTA's most affordable detached entry point, deep newcomer and multi-generational buyer base, heavy first-time and self-employed flow.

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Quick scenario · Scarborough

On a $778,289 Scarborough home (50% LTV existing)

Home value (city average)

Scarborough 2026

$778,289

Assumed existing mortgage

50% LTV assumption

$389,145

Accessible equity (75% LTV)

Equity you could access

$194,572

Est. monthly payment

At 7.49% on full draw

$1,422/mo

Illustrative only. Actual rate, qualifying amount, and premium depend on your file. A licensed advisor will give you the exact number for your file.

Private mortgages in Scarborough — the local picture

Scarborough's average price was $778,289 in August 2026. On a Scarborough home at $778,289 already carrying a $389,145 first, a private second to the 85% combined ceiling raises about $272,401 — $2,949 a month interest-only at 12.99%, and $40,612 to $46,060 all-in over 12 months once the lender fee, the broker fee and the legals are counted. That all-in figure is the one to compare against, not the rate: it works out to 14.9%–16.9% a year on the money you actually receive. For an owner in Agincourt or Malvern it buys a closing date or stops a default; what it does not buy is time, so we date the exit before we place the file.

Scarborough (TRREB districts E04–E11) average selling price, TRREB Market Watch, August 2026. Source.

Written by the Mortgage Squad Advisors Editorial Team · Reviewed by Surrayya Afzal, Principal Broker, FSRA #M14001433 · Brokerage FSRA #13737 · Figures current to August 2026

All mortgages in Scarborough| Private mortgages guide| Payment calculator

Max LTV (1st)

75%

Equity-based

Max CLTV (2nd)

85%

Combined with first

Term

6-24 mo

Bridge to A-lender

Funding speed

~7-14 days

After appraisal + legal

Private mortgages: Scarborough against the markets around it

The same arithmetic (above an assumed 50%-LTV first mortgage) on each market’s own published figure. Rates do not change across the boundary; the price does, and with it the file.

Market	Price	Equity reachable at 75% LTV	vs Scarborough
Scarborough	$778,289 average	$194,572	—
Etobicoke	$1,049,793 average	$262,448	+$67,876
North York	$1,011,327 average	$252,831	+$58,259
East York	$1,159,397 average	$289,849	+$95,277

Each figure is that market’s own board release, as cited on its page. Illustrative arithmetic, not a quote.

A private first or a private second — the Scarborough arithmetic

These are different products and the choice is usually decided by what your existing mortgage costs, not by which is cheaper on its own. A private FIRST replaces the mortgage you have: on Scarborough's $778,289 value at 75% loan-to-value that is $583,717, about $3,643 a month interest-only at 7.49% — and it prices your whole balance at the private rate, including the part that is currently sitting at an A-lender rate. A private SECOND leaves that first alone and sits behind it: to the 85% combined ceiling, behind the $389,145 first this page assumes, that is $272,401 at 12.99%, or $2,949 a month interest-only. The second carries the higher rate because it recovers last if the house sells, and it is still normally the cheaper answer, because only the new money is priced at it. The exception is a first that is already expensive, or a first whose lender will not permit a charge behind it — and that is a question we answer by reading your existing commitment, not by guessing.

How a private mortgage works — the rules, the penalties and the paperwork that are the same in every city — is covered in full on our private mortgages guide. This page keeps to what is different in Scarborough.

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Private mortgages across Scarborough

From Agincourt to Wexford, the dominant property form in each pocket changes how a private mortgage file is underwritten.

Agincourt, Guildwood, Wexford

Detached and semi (1970s–80s freehold) · Detached (1960s, bluff-side) · Post-war detached and semi

Long-held older stock is where private lending most often works, because the equity is already there. Age-related condition items reduce the value a private lender will lend against, so the appraisal drives the number more than the asking price does.

Malvern

Townhouse, semi and freehold detached

Freehold towns are straightforward private security. A condominium town is priced as a condominium, at the lower loan-to-value that form attracts.

Birch Cliff, Cliffside

Detached (freehold), heavy infill rebuild · Detached bungalow (freehold), rebuild activity

Detached and semi houses are the security private lenders price most keenly, because resale is predictable — the strongest loan-to-value in a private file usually sits on this form.

West Hill

Post-war detached and rental apartment

Private lending is secured on marketability, and a condominium's status certificate, reserve fund and rental share all speak to how quickly the unit could sell — which is what sets the loan-to-value offered.

Rouge

Newer detached subdivision

A property still inside a builder's warranty or interim-occupancy period complicates a private charge, and private terms are short — the exit has to be dated before the charge is registered, not after.

Regional Ontario lenders we shop — alongside the Big-6 banks and national monolines:

Meridian DUCA Alterna Savings FirstOntario

Scarborough market

What Scarborough’s market means for your private mortgage.

Scarborough is Toronto's most affordable entry — and still pays Toronto's double land transfer tax

Scarborough's July 2026 average selling price, across TRREB districts E04 through E11, was $782,615 — meaningfully below the City of Toronto average of $1,010,836, and below several Durham municipalities that sit further out. That affordability is the market's defining feature. What catches buyers is that being cheaper does not make it cheaper to close: Scarborough is inside the City of Toronto, so a purchase here pays Ontario land transfer tax and Toronto's municipal land transfer tax, which roughly doubles the bill and is due in cash on closing rather than financeable into the mortgage. A comparable home in Ajax or Pickering pays the provincial tax only. First-time buyers can claim both rebates — up to $4,000 provincially and up to $4,475 municipally — and at Scarborough price points those two together can erase most or all of the tax, which is precisely why the rebate paperwork matters more here than in a market where the municipal tax does not exist. On the mortgage side, $782,615 sits comfortably under the $1.5-million insurance ceiling, so the tiered minimum applies: 5% on the first $500,000 plus 10% on the balance, roughly $53,262 down, with the default-insurance premium financed onto the loan. First-time buyers and new-construction purchases can also use a 30-year amortization, which lowers the payment the stress test is applied against.

Second-suite income is what carries a lot of Scarborough files

Scarborough's housing stock and its multi-generational, newcomer buyer base mean a large share of local applications involve more than one earner and, very often, a basement apartment. Both change the qualifying math, and both have conditions. On rental income from a second suite, lenders take one of two approaches, and the choice can decide the file: a rental add-back adds a share of the gross rent (commonly around 50%) to your income, while a rental offset nets a larger share of the rent (often around 80%) directly against the property's carrying cost. The offset method is usually the one that makes a tight Scarborough file work. But the suite generally has to be a legal, retrofit-compliant second unit for a lender to count it at all — a non-conforming basement apartment that generates real cash for the owner may generate nothing at all on the application. On combined income, adding a co-applicant raises the qualifying ceiling but also brings their debts onto the file, and the ratios are tested at the stress-test rate for everyone on title. The practical order of operations is: confirm what the suite legally is before you budget the rent, then choose the lender by how they treat it, then run the ratios. Our GDS and TDS guide shows the full math.

An illustrative Scarborough file: the suite that counted, and the one that didn't

This is an illustrative composite built from the rules above — not a specific client, and not a guaranteed outcome. Two buyers shop the same Scarborough street at the same price with near-identical incomes. Both plan to rent the basement. One home has a legal second unit; the other has a finished basement apartment that was never brought to code. On the first file, a lender using the rental-offset method nets most of the projected rent against the carrying cost, the debt-service ratios clear, and the application funds. On the second, the income is simply not there to count, the ratios come up short at the stress-test rate, and the buyer either finds a larger down payment, adds a co-applicant, or moves down a price band. The homes looked the same in the listing. The lesson the example carries is that in Scarborough the status of the suite is a financing fact, not a renovation detail — and it is knowable before you make an offer. Every real file is assessed on its own facts.

FAQ

Private mortgages in Scarborough — common questions.

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What does a private mortgage work out to on Scarborough's August 2026 average price?

Scarborough (TRREB districts E04–E11) average selling price, TRREB Market Watch put the Scarborough average at $778,289 for August 2026. For a private mortgage that makes the equity reachable at 75% ltv about $194,572 (above an assumed 50%-LTV first mortgage). The same board counted 326 Scarborough sales in August 2026. Your own property and balance replace these numbers on the file.

How does Scarborough compare with Etobicoke, North York and East York for a private mortgage?

On each market's own cited figure, the equity reachable at 75% ltv is $194,572 in Scarborough against Etobicoke $262,448 (average $1,049,793); North York $252,831 (average $1,011,327); East York $289,849 (average $1,159,397). The comparison is the same arithmetic on a different price, which is why moving the search one municipality over changes the file before it changes the rate — lenders price the same product the same way across Ontario.

What's the average private mortgage file size in Scarborough?

On a Scarborough home valued at the $778,289 average, a typical private mortgage client can access up to $194,572 of usable equity, assuming an existing first-mortgage balance around 50% LTV.

What does a private mortgage cost on a typical Scarborough home?

On a Scarborough home valued at the $778,289 average with an assumed first mortgage near 50% LTV, a private mortgage can unlock about $194,572 at 75% LTV — roughly $1,422/mo at 7.49% on a full draw. The figure scales with your actual value and existing balance.

Why use a Scarborough mortgage broker for a private mortgage?

A local broker knows Toronto's property types and which of our 100+ lenders price private mortgage files best in Scarborough — from Agincourt and Malvern condos to detached stock — and there's no fee to you on A-lender files. The regional lenders on that panel are listed under the neighbourhood table above.

What does a private second mortgage actually cost in Scarborough?

On Scarborough's $778,289 value, behind the $389,145 first this page assumes, a second to the 85% combined ceiling is about $272,401. Interest-only at 12.99% that is $2,949 a month, $35,388 over 12 months. Add a lender fee of 1%–3% ($2,724–$8,172, normally taken off the advance) and roughly $2,500 of legal and appraisal costs. All in: $40,612–$46,060, an effective 14.9%–16.9% a year on the money advanced. Compare that figure, not the rate.

Should I take a private first or a private second in Scarborough?

Almost always the second, if your existing first is at a normal rate — a private first at 75% LTV would be $583,717 here, and it reprices your entire balance at 7.49% instead of pricing only the new money. The second costs 12.99% because it recovers last on a sale, but it applies to $272,401 rather than to everything. A private first makes sense when the existing first is itself expensive, when it is already in default, or when the first lender will not permit a charge behind it — which we determine by reading your commitment, not by assuming.

Who regulates a private mortgage in Ontario?

Mortgage Squad Advisors is a licensed Ontario mortgage brokerage — FSRA (Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario) Brokerage Licence #13737. All advisors are licensed and FINTRAC-trained, and every recommendation follows FSRA's conduct and disclosure rules.

Private mortgages in Scarborough: helpful guides & tools

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