The Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) announced, in October, the GTA new-home market saw a relatively active month for new condominium apartment and single-family home sales and openings.

There were 2,805 condominium apartments in low, medium and high-rise buildings, stacked townhouses and loft units sold in October, down 44 per cent from October 2017 but only 1 per cent less than the ten-year average, according to Altus Group, BILD’s official source for new-home market intelligence. Single-family home sales, with 491 detached, linked and semi-detached houses and townhouses (excluding stacked townhouses) sold, were even with last October and down 64 per cent from the 10-year average.

With 21 condominium apartment projects and 14 single-family home projects opening in October, remaining inventory increased to 16,283 units, comprised of 10,982 condo apartment units and 5,301 single family units. Remaining inventory includes units in pre-construction projects, in projects currently under construction, and in completed buildings.

“The pickup in interest from builders and home buyers that started to emerge in the GTA new home market in September gained momentum in October,” said Patricia Arsenault, Altus Group data solutions executive vice-president. “October was the best month we’ve seen this year not only in terms of sales—for both single-family homes and condominium apartments—but also new project openings. And for both sales and new openings, the increases from last month were stronger than the typical seasonal pattern.”

David Wilkes, BILD president and CEO, said the new home market’s gradual return to more typical activity levels was an encouraging sign.

“It’s clear that when we are able to bring on more supply and give new home buyers more product to choose from, they get excited and motivated about making that choice,” he said. “That’s why we are especially heartened by the new provincial government’s commitment to increasing housing supply through its Housing Supply Action Plan.”

The benchmark price for both condo apartments and single-family homes decreased slightly in October compared to the previous month. The benchmark price for condo apartments was $775,537, which was still up 14.5 per cent over the last 12 months. The decrease in the benchmark price of condo apartments from September can be accounted for by the smaller benchmark size of units available to purchase. The benchmark price for single-family homes was $1,115,284, down 8.4 per cent over the last 12 months.

October new-home sales by municipality:

October 2018	Condominium Apartments			Single-family			Total
Region	2018	2017	2016	2018	2017	2016	2018	2017	2016
Durham	79	19	96	55	207	323	134	226	419
Halton	328	162	375	78	69	515	406	231	890
Peel	169	110	203	148	48	177	317	158	380
Toronto	2,133	4,085	1,478	74	28	14	2,207	4,113	1,492
York	96	613	336	136	139	621	232	752	957
GTA	2,805	4,989	2,488	491	491	1,650	3,296	5,480	4,138