My Real Estate Blog - Market Trends, Tips & Updates

There was an improvement in sales of newly-built homes in the Greater Toronto Area last month.

Data from the Building and Land Development Association (BILD) shows that 1,747 new homes were sold in September, up sharply from the 974 in August.

"It appears more buyers—and builders—are starting to come in from the sidelines," said Patricia Arsenault, Altus Group's Executive Vice President, Data Solutions, the official source of data for BILD. "The increase from August in both new condominium apartment sales and the number of units in new projects launched was somewhat stronger than the typical September bump alone would suggest."

Year-over-year sales remain subdued with condo sales down 20% to 1,494 – 20% below the 10-year average – and single-family detached sales down 28% to 253 – 77% below the 10-year average.

David Wilkes, president & CEO of BILD, says that inventory is a continued issue for GTA new home sales with only around 5 months of supply of condos (8,820 units).

This narrowed the gap between the prices of condos and single-family homes.

In September, the benchmark price for condo apartments increased to $789,643, up 19.4% over the last 12 months, while the benchmark price for single-family homes softened again slightly to $1,119,533, down 7.1% over the last 12 months.

"In the lead-up to the municipal elections, BILD succeeded in raising housing supply and affordability as major election issues," said Mr. Wilkes. "Now we look forward to working with our municipal partners to address the barriers that stand in the way of building the housing our region needs to accommodate growth. Some straightforward steps include making sure that government charges on new homes are fair, funding and building critical infrastructure, cutting red tape and speeding up building permits and inspections."

September New Home Sales by Municipality: