Photo: James Bombales
The price difference between a new low-rise and high-rise home in the GTA reached $326,659 in April, three times as high as the $101,936 gap in April 2005. The gulf was also a record high, according to data released Friday by RealNet Canada.
Last month, the average sale price for a low-rise home in the region was $775,419, while a new condo cost $448,760.
“As the price gap continues to grow, new-home purchasers are faced with decreasing choice in housing type,” said BILD president and CEO Bryan Tuckey. “Buying a ground-related home in the GTA has become increasingly challenging for most purchasers, many of whom have been taken out of the low-rise market entirely.”
Inventory levels of ground-related housing dropped to a record low of just 5,171 homes in April. RealNet says this is less than one-third of the inventory available to purchasers in April 2005, another striking contrast of how different the market was ten years ago.
Meanwhile, there were 19,580 high-rise homes available for purchase in the GTA last month.
The region recorded 2,612 new low-rise home sales across the GTA in April, up 38.4 per cent the same time last year. Most of these sales were concentrated in the Peel and York regions.
High-rises couldn’t keep up: there were 1,482 new condo sold, down 3.3 per cent from April 2014. The City of Toronto accounted for 1,021, or 69 per cent, of all condo sales last month.
According to BuzzBuzzHome Market Snapshot data, the average price for a new condo currently on the market in the City of Toronto is $398,259. A new house or townhouse averages at $652,215.
