The GTA has less than 2 months of new low-rise inventory
By Lucas on May 24, 2016
The Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) just released its new home sales figures for April 2016, announcing another record-breaking month with the low-rise inventory hitting an all-time low and prices hitting all-time highs.
As of the end of April, there were only 2,751 new low-rise homes available across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), according to Altus Group, BILD’s trusted source for new home market information and statistics. A year ago, there were 5,171 low-rise homes available in the GTA.
"Ongoing constraint of serviced developable land is limiting the supply of new low-rise homes brought to market, and the result continues to be dramatic increases in low-rise prices across the region," says BILD President and CEO Bryan Tuckey.
The average price of a new low-rise home in the GTA went up 11% compared to last year, reaching $864,181, and the average price of a detached home hit $1,059,263. Overall, between the low-rise and high-rise market, the average price for a new home in the GTA was $775,419.
With inventory down and prices up, the number of sales also took a hit. There were only 2,324 low-rise sales last month, which is a 14% decline from April 2015. Two-thirds of the sales were in Peel and York regions, and half of the total low-rise sales across the GTA were of detached homes.
"Demand for low-rise homes continues to exceed supply," Tuckey says. "If monthly low-rise sales are an indication of consumer demand, the GTA has less than two months of supply in remaining inventory, and inventory is declining every month."
The new high-rise market also saw a drop in sales, recording only 1,640, which is 9% lower than the same period last year and 10% below the 10-year average. 87% of all new home availability in the GTA are condo units. Inventory was at 17,698 units at the end of April, but even that is 10% lower than last year.
The average price for a new high-rise unit went up 3% to $461,281, and on a per square foot basis, the price jumped another 5% to $583.
