June new home sales in the GTA remained low – new projects facing structural barriers; high costs to build
July 24 2024 - 6:00AM
Greater Toronto Area, July 24, 2024 – Greater Toronto Area
(GTA) new home sales remained slow in June, with year-to-date sales
sitting at nearly half of last year’s record low year-to-date, the
Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) announced
today.
There were 1,339 new home sales in June, which was down 46 per
cent from June 2023 and 59 per cent below the 10-year average,
according to Altus Group*, BILD’s official source for new home
market intelligence.
“GTA new homes sales remained weak in June,” said Edward Jegg,
Research Manager at Altus Group. “Where we are seeing activity, new
home buyers are finding homes that meet their needs and that they
can afford.”
Condominium apartments, including units in low, medium and
high-rise buildings, stacked townhouses and loft units, accounted
for 732 units sold in June, down 61 per cent from June 2023 and 68
per cent below the 10-year average.
There were 607 single-family home sales in June, up five per
cent from June 2023 and 38 per cent below the 10-year average.
Single-family homes include detached, linked and semi-detached
houses and townhouses (excluding stacked townhouses).
Total new home remaining inventory increased compared to the
previous month, to 21,158 units. This includes 17,391 condominium
apartment units and 3,767 single-family dwellings. This represents
a combined inventory level of 14.5 months, based on average sales
for the last 12 months. This remains an exceedingly high inventory
level, maintaining the trend seen since autumn 2023 of remaining
inventory levels hovering consistently near the 20,000 mark.
“Significant ongoing structural issues, notably the cost to
build and lengthy approval timeframes, are hampering the ability
for new projects to come to market – and limiting affordability,”
said Justin Sherwood, SVP Communications & Stakeholder
Relations at BILD. “We are continuing to see some sales return in
select regions of the GTA, predominantly single-family homes and
outside of the City of Toronto. However, the high costs of
material, labour, and land combined with municipal fees (such as
development charges) and slow municipal approvals are adding
unnecessary costs and delays to new projects. This in turn is
causing price stickiness and acting like a brake to new projects.
While interest rates will moderate over time, inaction on these
structural barriers will have long term consequences to deliver new
homes in the in the region.”
Benchmark prices decreased in June for both single-family homes
and for condominium apartments compared to the previous year. The
benchmark price for new condominium apartments was $1,023,389,
which was down six per cent over the last 12 months. The benchmark
price for new single-family homes was $1,613,613, which was also
down six per cent over the last 12 months.
With 1,200 member companies, BILD is the voice of the home
building, residential and non-residential land development and
professional renovation industries in the Greater Toronto Area. The
building and renovation industry provides 256,000 jobs in the
region and $39.3 billion in investment value. BILD is affiliated
with the Ontario and Canadian Home Builders’ Associations.
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For additional information or to schedule an interview, contact
Janis McCulloch at jmcculloch@bildgta.ca or 416-617-7994.
*Altus Group should be credited as BILD’s official source of new
home market intelligence.
- June new home sales in the GTA remained low – new projects
facing structural barriers; high costs to build
- Altus Data Solutions media backgrounder June 2024
John Provenzano
Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD)
4166443912
jprovenzano@bildgta.ca