Toronto, June 25, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The GTA new home market saw another slow month in May, the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) announced today.
With 866 new homes sold, it was the lowest May for total new home sales since Altus Group*, BILD’s official source for new home market intelligence, started tracking in 2000. May’s total new home sales were down 81 per cent from May 2019 and 76 per cent below the 10-year average.
Single-family homes, including detached, linked, and semi-detached houses and townhouses (excluding stacked townhouses), accounted for 438 new home sales, down 55 per cent from last May and 68 per cent below the 10-year average. Sales of new condominium apartments, including units in low, medium and high-rise buildings, stacked townhouses and loft units, at 428 units sold, were down 88 per cent from May 2019 and 80 per cent below the 10-year average.
With few projects launching in May, total new home remaining inventory decreased slightly from the previous month, to 13,647 units. Remaining inventory includes units in preconstruction projects, in projects currently under construction, and in completed buildings.
“Two months into the COVID-19 crisis, we are continuing to see the impact on available new home inventory numbers, with the number of new units brought to market in April and May reaching unprecedented low levels,” said Matthew Boukall, Altus Group’s Vice President, Data Solutions. “Looking back at the market activity following the SARS outbreak in 2003, the industry will likely experience more months of disruptions to available inventory and sales.”
The benchmark price for new condo apartments in May was $985,436, which was up 26.4 per cent over the last 12 months, and the benchmark price for new single-family homes was $1,109,643, which was even over the last 12 months.
“The fact that we have not seen much new supply brought to market in the last few months is not surprising, but it is concerning, given our region’s ongoing housing shortage,” said David Wilkes, BILD President & CEO. “An economic impact report we released with Altus on Monday shows that construction delays due to the pandemic won’t just affect housing supply but will also have fiscal implications, including a loss or delay of some $850 million in government revenues. All levels of government must work together to remove barriers to the renewal of construction activity that will help kick-start our economy.”
Table: May new home sales by municipality**
| May 2020 | Condominium Apartments | Single-family | Total | ||||||
| Region | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
| Durham | 58 | 49 | 242 | 128 | 253 | 70 | 186 | 302 | 312 |
| Halton | 25 | 469 | 24 | 77 | 144 | 31 | 102 | 613 | 55 |
| Peel | 67 | 700 | 252 | 86 | 278 | 133 | 153 | 978 | 385 |
| Toronto | 208 | 1,315 | 1,347 | 14 | 36 | 9 | 222 | 1,351 | 1,356 |
| York | 70 | 1,079 | 297 | 133 | 258 | 50 | 203 | 1,337 | 347 |
| GTA | 428 | 3,612 | 2,162 | 438 | 969 | 293 | 866 | 4,581 | 2,455 |
Source: Altus Group
With 1,500 member companies, BILD is the voice of the home building, land development and professional renovation industry in the Greater Toronto Area. The building and renovation industry provides $33 billion in investment value and employs 271,000 people in the region. BILD is proudly affiliated with the Ontario and Canadian Home Builders' Associations.
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*Altus Group should be credited as BILD’s official source of new home market intelligence.
** Historical data are subject to revisions.
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