A Detailed Look into the Current State of the GTA Housing Market
TORONTO – BUSINESS – The Greater Toronto Area’s (GTA) new home market showed signs of stability in October, maintaining the gains from September, despite the previous summer’s declining trend. This update comes from the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD), providing insight into the current state of the housing market.
Sales Figures Show a Mixed Scenario
In October, the GTA witnessed 1,872 new home sales, a slight decrease of seven percent from October 2022, and notably 50 percent below the 10-year average. This data, sourced from Altus Group, BILD’s official source for new home market intelligence, offers a nuanced picture of the market dynamics.
Edward Jegg, Research Manager with Altus Group, commented on the situation, “October new home sales eased across the GTA while inventory levels continued to climb. Builders are testing the waters with new launches, gauging whether buyers are ready to re-engage.”
Condominiums and Single-Family Homes: A Comparative Analysis
The sales of condominium apartments, including various forms such as low, medium, and high-rise buildings, stacked townhouses, and loft units, totalled 1,304 in October. This figure represents a 20 percent decrease from the same period in 2022 and is 49 percent below the decade’s average.
In contrast, sales of single-family homes, which encompass detached, linked, and semi-detached houses and townhouses (excluding stacked townhouses), showed an increase. There were 568 single-family home sales in October, marking a 47 percent rise from October 2022 but still 51 percent below the 10-year average.
Inventory Levels and Market Balance
An interesting development is the total new home remaining inventory, which saw an increase to 21,032 units, including 17,930 condominium apartments and 3,102 single-family dwellings. This level of inventory, which hasn’t been surpassed since 2016, indicates a combined inventory level of 8 months, based on average sales for the last 12 months. For reference, a balanced market typically has 9-12 months of inventory. Remaining inventory encompasses units in various stages of development, from pre-construction to completed buildings.
Justin Sherwood, SVP Communications & Stakeholder Relations at BILD, shed light on the buyer’s perspective, “With sales basically stable from September, we are still seeing many new home buyers sitting on the sidelines versus what we would see in a typical October. This is entirely driven by the current monetary policy, interest rates, and affordability erosion caused by the rising cost of living. Delays in pre-construction sales mean delays in adding housing supply, and the impacts of slower sales will be lower future housing starts. The sooner the market gets indications that more moderate interest rates are on the horizon, the sooner we will see more added housing supply.”
Price Trends in the GTA Housing Market
The benchmark prices for new homes in the GTA experienced mixed trends in October. The price for new condominium apartments stood at $1,023,102, marking a 10.8 percent decline over the past 12 months. Meanwhile, new single-family homes had a benchmark price of $1,629,245, a decrease of 10.3 percent over the same period.
