GTA new home market sees low sales in December, slow 2023

Toronto, Jan. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Greater Toronto Area, January 25, 2024 – GTA new home sales were slow in December, experiencing only marginal growth from December 2022 which was the second lowest December monthly new sales following December 2008, the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) announced today.

There were 554 new home sales in December, which was up half a per cent from December 2022 and 67 per cent below the 10-year average, according to Altus Group*, BILD’s official source for new home market intelligence.

“Both new home buyers and builders remained on the sidelines in December, lacking the confidence to re-engage,” said Edward Jegg, Research Manager with Altus Group. “As a result, new home sales were sparse and the likelihood for an appreciable uptick in the first half of 2024 remains dim.”

Condominium apartments, including units in low, medium and high-rise buildings, stacked townhouses and loft units, accounted for 400 units sold in December, down two per cent from December 2022 and 66 per cent below the 10-year average.

There were 154 single-family home sales in December, up six per cent from December 2022 and 70 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 decreased compared to the previous month, to 20,252 units. It included 16,850 condominium apartment units and 3,402 single-family dwellings. This represents a combined inventory level of nine and half months, based on average sales for the last 12 months. This is the highest inventory level since 2015, however builders added very little inventory to the market in December in terms of new projects.

“With current interest rates we are experiencing a hurry up and wait sales environment as potential buyers sit on the sidelines,” said Justin Sherwood, SVP Communications & Stakeholder Relations at BILD. “Given that housing starts lag pre-construction sales by as much as two years, we can expect that the low level of sales in 2023 will result in lower housing starts in the future. In fact, we are already seeing the pace of housing starts in the GTA beginning to decline. This will result in less housing supply being added to the market in the near future, aggravating the housing crisis at the same time as we are experiencing increasing demand for new homes.”

Benchmark prices increased in December for both single-family homes and for condominium apartments compared to the previous month. The benchmark price for new condominium apartments was $1,047,288, which was down 7.5 per cent over the last 12 months. The benchmark price for new single-family homes was $1,604,977, which was down 8.5 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 Justin Sherwood at jsherwood@bildgta.ca or 416-371-6005.

*Altus Group should be credited as BILD’s official source of new home market intelligence.

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