2015 sees the 3rd most new home sales in the last decade!

The Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) has released its December 2015 new home sales figures, announcing that 2015 saw the third most sales in the last decade!

According to RealNet Canada, BILD’s trusted source for new home market intelligence, there were 41,295 new home sales in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) last year. This is a 2% increase compared to 2014’s total sales of 40,324. In December, there were 658 low-rise sales and 1,078 high-rise sales. 2007 and 2011 are the only two years in the last decade to have more sales, with 43,391 and 46,304 sales, respectively.

Though 2015’s total sales is only a slight increase compared to 2014, it is 13% higher than the 10-year average, which is 36,543 sales. "This region continues to grow by up to 100,000 people and 50,000 jobs every year," says BILD president and CEO Bryan Tuckey. "The home building and land development industry supports that growth by building quality complete communities so that people have places to live and work."

In the new high-rise market, there were 21,658 sales last year, which is 2% lower than 2014’s total, but 11% higher than the 10-year average, which is 19,457 sales. There were 19,637 new low-rise sales in 2015, which is an 8% year-over-year increase, and is 15% higher than the 10-year average of 17,085 sales.

When it comes to average prices, both the low-rise and high-rise markets experienced record highs. The average price per square foot in the high-rise market hit a record high of $584 in December 2015, with the average price of a unit decreasing to $453,083 (down from $454,476 a year ago).

This decrease in average price per unit is due to shrinking unit sizes. In December 2015, the average unit size was 775 square feet, and a year earlier, the average size was 816 square feet. "The industry continues to find new and innovative ways to keep the price of new homes within reach for first-time buyers," Tuckey explains. "By maximizing living space and reducing the overall suite size, our members successfully kept the average price of a high-rise home stable over the last 12 months."

The low-rise market is a different story. December 2015 saw a record high average price of $829,766, which is an 18% year-over-year increase. The average price of a single detached unit was just under $1 million at $991,156 at the end of the year.

"The escalating price of new low-rise homes is a function of supply and demand," Tuckey says. "While demand has remained strong, the GTA faces a constrained supply of new low-rise homes coming to market due to a lack of serviced developable land. This significantly affects housing choice for new-home buyers."

We are already seeing evidence that 2016 will be another great year for new home sales. Can the industry keep up with the strong demand?