New home sales in the Greater Toronto Area soar 123%
By Newinhomes on May 28, 2019
You read that headline correctly. It looks like the typically busy spring market is in full swing this year!
According to Altus Group, the Building Industry and Land Development Association’s trusted source for new home market intelligence, there were 3,853 new home sales in the Greater Toronto Area in April 2019, which is a 123% year-over-year increase. This amount of sales is in line with the 10-year average.
“Both builders and buyers stepped up their game in the new condominium apartment market in April,” says Patricia Arsenault, Altus Group’s Executive Vice President, Data Solutions. “The number of units in new projects launched, and the number of sales were well above the April average of the past 10 years. While it is still too early to call the market as being on the upswing, the stronger showing in April is encouraging.”
Of all the sales in April, only 800 were of single-family homes, which actually marks the sixth consecutive month of year-over-year increases, but is 50% below the 10-year average. The 3,053 new condo sales in April is a year-over-year increase of 137% and is 37% above the 10-year average.
The average price of a new home in the GTA held steady through the busy sales month, with the average single-family home priced at $1,119,772, up just 0.3% compared to the same period last year. While condo sales spiked, the average price increased 2.5% to $758,585, which is stable growth.
New home inventory is also sitting at healthy levels as of the end of April 2019 with 13,707 new condo units and 4,580 new single-family homes available across the GTA.
“The last two months have seen stronger new home and condominium sales in the GTA after a subpar April in 2018,” says David Wilkes, BILD President & CEO. “There seems to be a resiliency in the market as new home buyers are coming off the sidelines.”
This strong month for the new home market comes at a time when some are worried about the mortgage stress test burdening homebuyers and there not being enough supply in Ontario. It’s only one month, so we wouldn’t start celebrating just yet, but it’s great to see that families are adjusting expectations and are confident in the housing market after a turbulent year of new regulations.
