Q3-2013 Brings Record Lows for New Home Sales
By Lucas on Oct 23, 2013
Recently, the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) released its new home sales report for September 2013.
According to RealNet Canada Inc., BILD’s official source for new home market intelligence, the end of the third quarter (Q3-2013) marks the lowest year-to-date (YTD) sales in the last decade, even though September 2013 sales were up 4.4% compared to September 2012.
Between January and the end of September, there were only 19,327 new home sales in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), which is 30.5% below the 10-year average. The low-rise sector accumulated just 8,878 YTD sales, which is 38.8% lower than the 10-year average.
"Constrained land supply has caused land prices to increase dramatically over the past decade, particularly in the low and medium density sectors where it has grown as much as 237 per cent," said BILD President and CEO Bryan Tuckey. "Near record high pricing has pushed the affordability of ground-related housing beyond the reach of many new home buyers in the GTA. This has resulted in a considerable reduction in sales, and the economic effects will likely be felt within a few years."
The constrained land supply leads to low inventory in the low-rise sector, which leads to price increases. The RealNet New Home Price Index showed a 6% increase in the low-rise sector compared to September 2012, bringing the average to $658,869.
For high-rises, the price per square foot went up slightly, but unit pricing went down to an average of $432,853 because unit size decreased by 2%.
The region with the most low-rise sales was York with 325. With only 23, Toronto had the least. For new high-rise sales, Toronto saw the most with 808, and Durham the least with 0.
To view the rest of the report and to see how other regions within the GTA performed, click here.For RealNet Canada’s stats, click here.
