TORONTO — The Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) is stating Greater Toronto Area (GTA) new home sales remained extremely low in December 2024 and as a result there will be widespread implications.
There were 310 new home sales in December which was down 46 per cent from December 2023 and 80 per cent below the 10-year average, according to Altus Group, BILD’s official source for new home market intelligence.
For 2024 as a whole, there were 9,816 total new home sales, which was down 47 per cent from all of 2023 and 69 per cent below the 10-year average, a release reads.
“2024 will go down as a historic year, with December’s new home sales hitting their lowest point in nearly 40 years and the whole year producing the lowest annual total since 1990,” said Edward Jegg, research manager at Altus Group, in a statement. “As 2025 begins, new home buyers remain unwilling to re-enter the market despite lower mortgage rates, falling prices, and elevated inventories.”
Condominium apartments, including units in low, medium and highrise buildings, accounted for 150 units sold in December, which is down 63 per cent from December 2023 and 86 per cent below the 10-year average.
“We are literally watching the foundation of the next housing crisis being laid today. December’s new home sales and the low new home sales seen throughout 2024 in the GTA illustrate the problem the region is facing adding new housing supply,” added Justin Sherwood, senior vice-president of communications, research, and stakeholder relations. “While the resale market has shown some signs of life thanks to lower rates, new builds are continuing to face a ‘cost to build’ challenge. Skyrocketing construction costs, soaring financing rates, and increasingly high municipal fees over the last five years have made it financially impossible to build homes that the market can, and is willing to, absorb at present prices. Sales have plummeted and housing starts are sliding – and will continue to follow the sales trajectory. Without immediate action from governments to reduce development charges and municipal fees, the future housing supply of the GTA is in peril.”
BILD reports there were 160 single-family home sales in December, down one per cent from December 2023 and 62 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 slightly compared to the previous month, to 21,787 units. This includes 16,967 condominium apartment units and 4,820 single-family dwellings.
Benchmark prices decreased in December for both single-family homes and condominium apartments compared to the previous year. The benchmark price for new condominium apartments was $1,018,170, which was down 2.8 per cent over the last 12 months. The benchmark price for new single-family homes was $1,551,228, which was down 3.4 per cent over the last 12 months.
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