There's no denying that the Greater Toronto Area housing market remains hot, with November proving to be the strongest month for new home sales in over 20 years. Unfortunately, because of this, housing affordability, particularly for new single-family homes continues to deteriorate, with prices rising over 30% in the past 12 months.
The GTA new home market saw very strong sales in November, with 5,042 recorded transactions, marking the highest for this month in more than two decades, the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) announced today.
While November was a great month for new home sales overall, not to mention 29% above the 10-year average, the results weren't even across housing segments.
Condominium apartments, including units in low, medium, and high-rise buildings, stacked townhouses and loft units, accounted for 4,274 of the units sold in November, nearly 85% of all homes sold.
READ: Historic Lack of Inventory Pushes Housing Market Affordability to Worst Level in 31 Years
Not only were November condo sales 56% above the 10-year average, but it was also the strongest performance of condo apartment sales for the month of November since Altus Group (BILD’s source for new home market intelligence) started tracking in 2000.
On the other hand, sales of new single-family homes, including detached, linked, and semi-detached houses and townhouses (excluding stacked townhouses), accounted for just 768 units sold in November -- 33% below the 10-year average.
“New condominium apartment sales soared to their second strongest month ever,” said Edward Jegg, Analytics Team Leader at Altus Analytics, Altus Group. “Meanwhile, the new single-family market continues to be plagued by deteriorating affordability with persistent land/lot shortages leading to recurring record monthly prices.”
As condominium apartment unit sales outpaced openings in November, remaining inventory -- including units in pre-construction projects, in projects currently under construction, and in completed buildings -- decreased compared to October to 10,200 units. This was still well below the 10-year average of 16,000 units and current inventory represents less than four months’ supply.
With demand for condos increasing, the benchmark price for condominium apartments increased to $1,082,713 in November compared to the previous month and up 7.8% over the last 12 months.
While inventory for single-family homes remains close to historic lows, there was still a very slight increase to the remaining inventory in November to 1,188 units. BILD says the tight inventory contributed to another record in the benchmark price for new single-family homes, which reached $1,679,941 in November -- a year-over-year increase of 33%.
“Housing affordability driven by lack of supply has become a critical issue in the GTA with broad societal implications,” said Justin Sherwood, BILD’s SVP.
Sherwood says he expects housing affordability to be a significant issue in the upcoming provincial and municipal elections.
"The current supply challenge is a man-made problem and BILD encourages candidates to bring forward meaningful supply-side solutions in their platforms.”
