GTA’s Record Tripled During Last Year’s Closing

In 2016, the increase in condo sales and high prices together with low inventory in the Greater Toronto Area peaked new records according to the Building Industry and Land Development Association.

This latest record which turned out to be the highest so far showed that 189 high-rise units were bought in 2016 from the data derived via its official source, by an incline of 30 per cent from the year before. With Durham taking the lead in increased sales which were twice the total of 2015’s figure, all parts of the Greater Toronto Area also experienced an incline in sales.

In the Greater Toronto Area, 62 per cent of the 47,161 sales in that province consisted of a high-rise. A huge difference compared with latest homes record of 2012 when 78 per cent were low-rise.

Executive Vice President of Research Consulting Services at Altus Group, Patricia Arsenault said; “The decline in low-rise sales in 2016 was due to the lack of product available to purchase, not softer demand. The fact that new product is being quickly absorbed, despite rising prices, shows there is continued buyer interest in purchasing new ground-oriented homes in the GTA.”

Despite the pressure on inventory, sales still went up, prices took a hike with the existing average price of latest low-rise homes at $995,116 in December of 2016. The average price of new single-family detached homes in the GTA was around $1,264,604, which incline more than $273,000 in the previous year. In December, the supply of high-rise units was at 11,792, being a ten-year low, whereas, low-rise units was 1,879 of only 742 single-detached homes.

CEO and President of BILD, Bryan Tuckey said; “We have a shortage of housing supply in the GTA that is approaching crisis levels. Housing is selling as quickly as the industry can bring it to market and the lack of developable land that is serviced with infrastructure, excessive red tape, out-of-date zoning and NIMBYism are hindering our ability to bring more to the market.”