Photo: James Bombales
On the shoulders of near-record-breaking condo launches, the number of new homes purchased across the GTA last month was almost double the total reached during the same month last year.
Homebuyers snapped up a total of 4,794 new homes in May, up 94 percent annually and soaring 27 percent above the 10-year average, according to the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD), which released new data from researchers at Altus Group.
Strong sales activity chipped away at the level of new supply on the market “slightly,” suggests BILD, with 4,574 single-family homes available for purchase at May’s end, compared to 12,537 condos. Homes included in these totals could be selling in the pre-construction phase, already under construction, or even completed and unsold.
“It was the highest number of total new home sales for May since 2002,” says Patricia Arsenault, Altus Group’s executive vice president of data solutions.
Some 1,004 new single-family homes, which includes detached, semi-detached, and linked houses as well as townhouses sold in May, representing an eye-popping 211 percent year-over-year increase.
That’s still 32 percent shy of the average over the past decade, although May was the seventh consecutive month for which sales were up annually in this segment.
The benchmark asking price for available single-family homes was $1,109,501 in May, declining 3 percent from a year ago.
New condo sales in May skyrocketed 64 percent higher than the 10-year average, with 3,790 units in low-, mid- and high-rise buildings as well as lofts and stacked townhouses selling. Compared to May 2018, that’s a 76-percent increase.
Prices for these higher-density homes were up annually. The benchmark asking price of a new condo climbed 2.8 percent in 12 months to $779,687.
“New condo apartment sales were brisk among the near-record number of units launched in April. At the same time, new single-family home sales broke the 1,000-unit threshold for the first time in two years.”
