GTA new home sales in July remain strong

It was a busy month by July standards, as sales for both condos and single-family homes were up year-over-year, according to the latest statistics from the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD).There were 566 new single-family homes, including detached, linked and semi-detached houses and townhouses, sold in July, according to Altus Group, BILD’s official source for new home market intelligence. Although sales increased 136 per cent from last July, they were 29 per cent below the 10-year average.Sales of new condominium apartments in low-, medium- and highrise buildings, stacked townhouses and loft units, with 2,297 units sold, were up 22 per cent from July 2018 and 42 per cent above the 10-year average.

Brisk openings

“Typically, buyers take a bit of a vacation from the new condo apartment market in July” says Patricia Arsenault, Altus Group’s executive vice-president, Data Solutions. “This year was no different, although the decline in sales was less pronounced than usual, resulting in the second strongest July on record. While few new projects launched in July, sales at projects opened in June were brisk.”The benchmark price of new condominium apartments increased from last month, to $838,824, up 8.3 per cent over the last 12 months. The benchmark price of new single-family homes decreased slightly from last month, to $1.09 million, down 4.5 per cent over the last 12 months, continuing its moderating trend in 2019.ALSO READ: Detached home sales and prices roar back to life in first half of 2019 – ReMaxStrong July sales, paired with traditional fewer summer openings, saw inventory decrease in July to 12,873 condominium units and 4,409 single-family homes. Remaining inventory includes units in preconstruction projects, in projects currently under construction and in completed buildings.Total new home sales in the first seven months of 2019, at 20,268 units sold, are up 45 per cent from the same period in 2018 and nine per cent below the 10-year average.

Price gap narrows

“The price gap between single-family homes and condos continues to shrink, leaving new-home buyers with a lack of choice,” says David Wilkes, BILD president and CEO. “We must provide more ‘missing middle’ type development that can support transit in established neighbourhoods. More ‘gentle density’ housing in the form of midrise buildings, condos with street level retail, and stacked townhouses is needed to give consumers more choice.” 

New home sales by municipality, July 2019

Municipality	Condominium units			Single-family homes			Total
Region	2019	2018	2017	2019	2018	2017	2019	2018	2017
Durham	29	6	27	118	44	60	147	50	87
Halton	59	46	18	82	25	18	141	71	36
Peel	415	150	148	142	87	0	557	237	148
Toronto	1,522	1,557	1,118	46	8	6	1,568	1,565	1,124
York	272	120	461	178	76	34	450	196	495
GTA	2,297	1,879	1,772	566	240	118	2,863	2,119	1,890

Source: Altus GroupRELATED READINGWhat Bill 108 means for housing affordability in the GTABehind the numbers : The GTA housing market in June 2019Examining the GTA affordable homeownership crisis