TORONTO – BUSINESS – Housing starts in Toronto are down. Single-family homes, including detached, linked, and semi-detached houses and townhouses (excluding stacked townhouses), accounted for 89 units sold, down 86 per cent from last August and 87 per cent below the 10-year average.
The GTA new home market was quiet in August, with overall sales and inventory levels well below the 10-year average, the Building Industry and Land Development Association announced today.
Sales of new condominium apartments, including units in low, medium and high-rise buildings, stacked townhouses and loft units, with 533 units sold, were down 83 per cent from August 2021 and 61 per cent below the 10-year average, according to Altus Group*, BILD’s official source for new home market intelligence.
“New home sales for August slowed in both the condominium apartment and single-family sectors as buyers and builders are in a wait-and-see mode amid the swirling economic uncertainty,” said Edward Jegg, Research Manager at Altus Group. “However, buyers have been able to find product to purchase as builders continue to replenish the inventory pipeline.”
Total new home remaining inventory decreased compared to the previous month, to 10,412 units, comprised of 8,787 condominium apartment units and 1,625 single-family lots, representing 3.5 months and 2.7 months of inventory respectively. A balanced market would have 9-12 months of inventory.
The benchmark price for new condominium apartments in August was $1,189,682, which was up 11.2 per cent over the last 12 months and the benchmark price for new single-family homes was $1,861,587, which was up 22.3 per cent over the last 12 months.
“New home buyers and builders have taken a step back in the face of rising interest rates and inflation,” said Dave Wilkes, BILD President & CEO. “A useful parallel is the year 2017, when the introduction of the mortgage stress test resulted in artificially elevated interest rates. As sales of new homes slowed, so did construction, ultimately exacerbating our region’s housing challenge. The lesson is clear: now is not the time to take our foot off the gas as we strive to address the factors that contribute to our region’s housing supply and affordability challenges.”
With more than 1,300 member companies, BILD is the voice of the home building, land development and professional renovation industry in the Greater Toronto Area. The building and renovation industry provides more than 231,000 jobs in the region and $26.9 billion in investment value. BILD is proudly affiliated with the Ontario and Canadian Home Builders’ Associations.
