New Home Sales in GTA Heat up Again in June: BILD

Following two months of “historically slow” sales as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic, new home sales are starting to surge again in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

In fact, during the month of June, sales of new single-family homes – which includes detached, linked, and semi-detached houses and townhouses (excluding stacked townhouses) – accounted for 1,160 of the total of 1,904 new homes sold. This marks the highest number of transactions for June since 2016, according to a new report from the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD).

However, while still a notable milestone, this is 12% below the 10-year average, according to Altus Group, BILD’s official source for new home market intelligence.

Sales numbers for new condominium apartments – including units in low, medium and high-rise buildings, stacked townhouses, and loft units – accounted for 744 units sold, which is up compared to April and May, but still down 73% from June 2019, and 70% below the 10-year average.

“Single-family demand recovered more quickly as buyers returned and new supply started to come back into the market,” said Matthew Boukall, Altus Group’s Vice President, Data Solutions. “Given the challenges around COVID-19 restrictions, we’ve seen developers adopt new strategies to reach consumers and have seen success in the lower density segments.”

The BILD report says that with several projects launching in June, the total remaining new home inventory increased slightly from the previous month to 13,863 units —this includes units in preconstruction projects, projects currently under construction, and in completed buildings.

What’s more, the benchmark prices for both new condominium apartments and new single-family homes increased last month compared to May. The benchmark price for new condo apartments was $999,228, up 24.2% over the last 12 months, while the benchmark price for new single-family homes was $1,141,848, up 3.9% over the last 12 months.

When breaking it down by municipality, Toronto had the highest number of new condominium apartment sales, with 408 transactions in June. Peel followed behind with 134, while York had 107 sales, Halton had 70, and Durham had just 25.

As for new single-family homes, York leads the pack with 451 sales, followed by Durham (277), Halton (274), Peel (152), and then Toronto with just six sales.

This could be an example of how more homeowners are beginning to flee the downtown core and turning to the 905 regions and surrounding areas in the search for more space and affordability.

David Wilkes, BILD President and CEO, said the June new home sales numbers are promising, though, much remains to be seen as the GTA re-opens and begins recovery.

“Now is the time to implement what we learned about facilitating the delivery of housing during the pandemic, to address our long-standing housing supply and affordability challenge while stimulating the local economy. Our industry is working with all three levels of government to help achieve these goals,” added Wilkes.