New-home market continues to gain momentum in October

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.

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: