GREATER TORONTO, March 23, 2017 /CNW/ - February was a record
breaking month for new condo apartment sales in the GTA, while the
number of new low-rise homes available to buy reached unprecedented
levels of scarcity, the Building Industry and Land Development
Association (BILD) announced today.
Across the entire GTA, there were only 1,001 new low-rise homes
available in builder inventories at the end of February, according
to Altus Group, BILD's official source for new-home market
intelligence. A decade ago there were 17,304 of these homes
which include single-detached and semi-detached houses and
townhomes.
"February data demonstrates, quite clearly, that our housing
supply crisis in the GTA is getting worse," says BILD President and
CEO Bryan Tuckey. "Our members are
building to current provincial intensification policy and we are
building less low-rise single-family housing and more high and
mid-rise housing but consumer demand for low-rise homes has not
dropped.
"Today in the GTA we have a scarcity of single-family
ground-related housing that is not just unprecedented – it is
almost inconceivable," says Tuckey. "As a result we are seeing
record breaking condo sales and continued price growth."
At the end of February, there were only 324 new detached homes
available for purchase in builder inventories. In February 2007, there 12,064 such homes available
to buyers.
February saw available new detached homes reach a new record
average price of $1,469,449, while
the average price for all single-family ground-related product,
which also includes semi-detached and townhomes, climbed to a new
high of $1,081,013.
According to Patricia Arsenault,
Altus Group's Executive Vice President of Research Consulting
Services, the low inventory of available single family product is a
key factor driving price increases and it is limiting choices for
consumers.
"If I were shopping for a single-family home ten years ago, I
would have been able to choose from among 500 different sites and
nearly 18,000 units," she says. "Today, there are less than
100 projects with any available units to purchase, totalling only
about 1,000 units. And I would have to act very quickly to get one
of those."
In the GTA in February, there were more than twice as many new
condo apartments sold than low-rise units. Altus Group recorded,
3,542 sales of condo apartments in stacked townhouses and mid and
high-rise buildings, and 1,541 sales of new detached and semi
houses and low-rise townhomes.
Condo apartment sales in February were up 79 percent over the
same period last year and more than double the ten-year
average. The month's condo apartment sales were driven by
continued strong sales in Toronto
(1,661 units) and a significant increase in 905 sales, which
included 105 unit sales in Durham,
107 in Halton, 370 in Peel and 1,299 in York.
Average prices for available new condo apartments in the GTA
also set records in February. The average price of new condominium
apartments in stacked townhouses and mid and high-rise buildings
was $523,086, up from $507,511 in January. The average price per square
foot reached an unprecedented $652,
and the average unit size dropped to 802 square feet.
Inventory level for condo apartments continued to drop in
February and reached a new low of 10,342 units.
"While the February results point to a trend decades in the
making, the severity of the monthly figures, is jarring," says
Bryan Tuckey. "As the current
data demonstrates, legislative guidelines and planning policies
have real impacts on real people. With significant declines in
builder inventory and record prices (for both low and high-rise
homes), the GTA housing market is in crisis and it is time for
governments to work with us to address the problems."
February New-Home Sales by Region:
February
'17
|
High
Rise
|
Low
Rise
|
Total
|
Region
|
2017
|
2016
|
2015
|
2017
|
2016
|
2015
|
2017
|
2016
|
2015
|
Durham
|
105
|
39
|
23
|
310
|
452
|
200
|
415
|
491
|
223
|
Halton
|
107
|
48
|
136
|
536
|
398
|
185
|
643
|
446
|
321
|
Peel
|
370
|
92
|
53
|
191
|
486
|
469
|
561
|
578
|
522
|
Toronto
|
1661
|
1039
|
1112
|
41
|
41
|
55
|
1702
|
1080
|
1167
|
York
|
1299
|
765
|
193
|
463
|
507
|
555
|
1762
|
1272
|
748
|
GTA
|
3542
|
1983
|
1517
|
1541
|
1884
|
1464
|
5083
|
3867
|
3447
|
Source: Altus Group
With more than 1,450 members, is the voice of the land
development, home building and professional renovation industry in
the Greater Toronto Area. BILD is proudly affiliated with the
Ontario and Canadian Home
Builders' Associations.
SOURCE Building Industry and Land Development Association