GTA new home sales slow in July: Altus Group

TORONTO — The GTA new home market was quiet in the month of July.

With 2,140 units sold, total July new home sales were 14 per cent below the 10-year average, according to Altus Group, the Building Industry and Land Development Association’s source for new home market intelligence.

Altus also reported:

Single-family homes, including detached, linked and semi-detached houses and townhouses (excluding stacked townhouses), accounted for 662 units sold in July, 21 per cent below the 10-year average.

Sales of condominium apartments, including units in low, medium and highrise buildings, stacked townhouses and loft units, with 1,478 units sold in July, were 11 per cent below the 10-year average.

New home prices reached record highs in July.

The benchmark price for new condominium apartments in July was $1,091,648, which was up 9.8 per cent over the last 12 months.

The benchmark price for new single-family homes was $1,517,841, which was up 28.4 per cent over the last 12 months.

Remaining inventory decreased in July compared to the previous month for both condominium apartments and single-family homes, to 9,483 units and 1,598 units respectively.

“New home sales took a bit of a breather in July,” said Edward Jegg, team leader, analytics with Altus Group, in a statement.

“A drop in July is typical, as potential buyers take time off to enjoy too-short Canadian summers and fewer new projects launched. Adding to the seasonal dip this year was some moderation following the surge in sales from July 2020 through April 2021 that followed the initial pandemic lockdowns.”

“Low inventory levels for both condominium apartments and single-family homes are a persistent problem in the GTA that exerts upward pressure on prices,” added Dave Wilkes, BILD president and CEO.

“We are encouraged to see that the issues of housing supply and affordability are prominent in the lead-up to the federal election — as they must be in elections at every level if we are to build the housing people in our region need, at prices they can afford. What we need is an alignment of federal, provincial and municipal housing policy on market-rate housing.”