New home sales rise in Greater Toronto Area after 2018 drop, says Altus Group

TORONTO — Altus Group says new home sales in the Greater Toronto Area climbed 47 per cent last year after drops in both single-family and condo sales a year earlier.

The real estate services firm says new single-family home sales of 9,523 were 2.5 times higher than 2018, when sales in the segment hit a 22-year low following tighter mortgage rules.

Sales of new condos reached 26,948 for the third-highest level ever, driven by sales outside the City of Toronto and in particular in the York Region where sales doubled from a year earlier.

The price difference between the two segments narrowed last year as the average asking price of $1.09 million for new single-family homes was down 17 per cent from the 2017 peak, while the average price for a new condo reached an all-time high of $917,000.

The price gap between the two segments was much narrower in the early 2000s but started to diverge significantly around 2012 when single-family prices started to rise rapidly and condo price gains remained fairly flat until about 2017.

Residential land sales, which could pave the way for future construction, was down again last year to about where things stood in 2015, though Altus noted a lack of supply was at least partially responsible for the declines.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 30, 2020.

The Canadian Press