RealNet Discusses High-Rise Starts and Openings
By Lucas on Jul 16, 2013
Recently, RealNet posted an interesting article on their blog, called “Know Your Indicators.” It’s about how there is a great deal of residential development data available, but you need to understand the jargon in able to absorb the information properly. Within the post, RealNet analyzes 2012’s and this year’s high-rise construction starts data for the Greater Toronto Area, then compares it to sales opening dates.
What are construction starts and sales openings?
Both terms are basically self explanatory.
Construction starts: Refers to how many units have begun the building phase, usually within a certain period of time. The term is often shortened to “starts.”
Sales openings: When units in a development are officially available for purchase. Usually referred to as the “opening.”
Now that you have a better understanding of these two terms, let’s take a look at RealNet’s stats for starts and openings.
Starts and openings of 2012 and 2013
According to RealNet, the top three months for construction starts in 2012 were April, June, and August. April came in with just under 3,000, June was the highest with nearly 4,500, and August had over 3,500.
April of 2013 wasn’t quite as busy as 2012, but it was pretty close! We are still waiting on June’s starts’ numbers to come in, and we obviously need to wait a bit longer to see how August goes. Every other month this year, except January, has exceeded last year’s number of starts.
Out of all the starts in 2012, 36% of them opened for sales in 2010, and 55% opened in 2011. This year, 45% of the starts opened in 2011, and 53% opened in 2012. So, for the most part, if a high-rise condo goes on sale, you can expect it to start construction in one or two years. RealNet does show an indication of some developments taking three or four years to start, but it’s rare.
