![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/avoid-getting-burned-into-the-Toronto-condo-market-3.jpg\")
<\/a>Photo: James Bombales<\/em><\/p>\nThe Toronto new construction housing market saw only 771 homes sold in April, a month that ordinarily boasts a high number of new development launches and sees homebuyers flocking to sales centres across the region.<\/p>\n
The sales total for the month was down 80 percent over April 2019 and came in 78 percent below the 10-year sales average for the month, according to data released today by the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) and its data source, Altus Group. <\/p>\n
The total was also the lowest recorded in April since Altus Group began tracking new home sales data for the Toronto region in 2000.<\/p>\n\n
The collapse in homebuying activity, of course, was widely expected with the business shutdown and physical distancing measures introduced by the Ontario government as it sought to contain the spread of COVID-19. As had already been observed in the Toronto resale housing market, new home sales activity would invariably take a significant hit in April. <\/p>\n
On the pricing side, the new home market also mirrored the resale market, with prices remaining steady in April when compared to March\u2019s levels. <\/p>\n
In fact, benchmark prices for new condos and single-family homes both posted slight increases in April over the previous month. From a year-over-year perspective, the benchmark price for Toronto new condo units saw a nearly 30 percent increase, rising to $984,369. Meantime, the benchmark price for new single-family homes was $1,117,955, down 0.2 percent over April 2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe plunge in new home sales in April came as both builders and potential buyers stepped back from the heated activity of the first quarter, adjusting to the new reality ushered in by COVID-19,\u201d said Patricia Arsenault, Altus Group Executive Vice President, in a media release.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost planned new project launches were put on hold, sales programs for existing projects moved to virtual or by- appointment-only models, and short-term home-buying plans were disrupted by employment uncertainty, as well as the challenges of stay-at-home routines,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n