First the pretty good news: there were 2,356 new homes sales in September, up 4.4 per cent over September 2012. This marked the second consecutive month in which total monthly sales in 2013 were higher than their counterpart in 2012. High-rise sales were up 8.8 per cent over September 2012 and low-rise sales were up 0.5 per cent.
While that’s all well and good, the year-to-date (YTD) figures are less than encouraging. The 19,327 total new home sales that have been logged between January and September 2013 are 30.5 per cent below the 10-year average and down 25.7 per cent over the same January to September 2012 figure.
There were 8,878 total low-rise sales in the GTA between January and September 2013, down 23.5 per cent from the YTD 2012 and down 38.8 per cent from the 10-year average. High-rise sales totaled 10,449 between January and September 2013, down 27.4 per cent from the YTD 2012 and 21.5 per cent from the 10-year average.
The third quarter numbers also included in the report were no more encouraging, with total new home sales down 2.9 per cent over Q3 2012 and 33.2 per cent from the 10-year average.
The other big number that always leaves jaws agape is the gap between the new high-rise index price and the new low-rise index price. In the third quarter, the gap widened to a new record of $226,016, as the low-rise index price rose by six per cent $658,869 and new high-rise index price declined by one per cent to $432,853.
We’ve included some charts courtesy of RealNet to help you get a grasp of the numbers. Check them out:
Photo: UnTapping the World/Flickr
