Toronto – The Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) announced that GTA new home sales in 2019 rallied from the 22-year low of 2018.
Overall in 2019, there were 36,471 new homes sold in the GTA, according to Altus Group, BILD’s official source for new home market intelligence. Only 24,855 new homes had been sold the previous year, which had made 2018 the year with the lowest number of new home sales in the GTA since 1996.
There were 26,948 condominium apartments, including units in low, medium and high-rise buildings, stacked townhouses and loft units, sold in 2019, up 27 per cent from 2018 and 16 per cent above the 10-year average. Single family homes, including detached, linked, and semi-detached houses and townhouses (excluding stacked townhouses), accounted for 9,523 new home sales, up 157 per cent from 2018, which was the lowest year for new single-family home sales since comprehensive tracking started in 1981, but still 30 per cent below the 10-year average.
A busier than normal December contributed to the pick-up in new home sales in 2019. There were 2,371 total new home sales in December 2019. This included 1,871 new condominium apartment sales, up 132 per cent from December 2018 and 63 per cent above the 10-year average. Single-family home sales, with 500 units sold in December, were up 214 per cent from December 2018 and 13 per cent below the 10-year average.
“The improvement in new single-family home sales in 2019 was aided by the narrowing of the price gap between new single-family homes and new condominium apartments, as well as fewer competing options in the resale home market as inventories were whittled down,” said Patricia Arsenault, Altus Group’s executive vice president, Data Solutions. “The 2019 performance in the new single-family home market, however, needs to be put in perspective – sales were still very low in historical terms, as available product to purchase remains limited, in particular at price points that are affordable to a broader range of buyers.”
In December, the benchmark price for new condo apartments was $916,585, which was up 15 per cent over the last 12 months, and the benchmark price for single-family homes was $1,088,317, which was down 4.8 per cent over the last 12 months.
With no new projects launching in December, as is common for the time of year, remaining inventory decreased compared to the previous month, to 17,116 units, consisting of 12,280 condominium apartment units and 4,836 single-family homes. Remaining inventory includes units in preconstruction projects, in projects currently under construction, and in completed buildings.
“In 2019, the Ontario government took important steps to address housing supply and affordability with the introduction of its Housing Supply Action Plan and related legislation,” said David Wilkes, BILD President & CEO. “This year, all levels of government and our industry must continue to work together to transform our planning system so we can fix the housing supply problem in our region.”
December New Home Sales by Municipality:
December 2019 Condominium Apartments Single-family Total Region 2019 2018 2017 2019 2018 2017 2019 2018 2017 Durham 24 41 17 110 42 14 134 83 31 Halton 72 38 163 46 18 46 118 56 209 Peel 176 144 89 116 44 10 292 188 99 Toronto 1,263 446 406 21 6 8 1,284 452 414 York 336 137 195 207 49 54 543 186 249 GTA 1,871 806 870 500 159 132 2,371 965 1,002 Source: Altus Group
