You would have to go back to before 2000 for a January where single-family newly-built home sales in the GTA were lower than last month.
A report from the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) shows that there were just 365 single-family units sold in January out of total sales of 1,251 (Altus Group data). Condos accounted for 70.8% of sales (886 units).
“The January data continue a trend we have seen in the GTA,” said David Wilkes, BILD President and CEO. “Our industry wants to meet consumer demand in terms of the mix and type of homes available, but we are constrained by government policy. Affordability and the lack of supply of single-family housing remain a challenge.”
The benchmark price for available new single-family homes was $1,229,454, up 19.6% year-over-year while the benchmark for condominium apartments surged 40.8% to $714,430.
Supply increased by around 400 units but remained well-below normal levels with just 11,750 available newly-built homes. BILD says a healthy level of inventory is 9-12 months’ worth; the current level is 3-4 months.
“The GTA is expected to grow to 9.7 million people by 2041,” Wilkes said. “How are we going to house them? All levels of government and the building industry have a role to play in increasing housing supply and we need to work together to simplify approval processes, update zoning by-laws and service developable land so we can bring more homes to market.”
