GTA Construction Report staff writer
The price gap between new high-rise and low-rise homes in the GTA hit a new record high in April, tripling over the past 10 years, the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) has announced.
The difference is now $326,659, with the average price of a new ground-related home in the GTA at $775,419 while the average price of a high-rise condo is $448,760, according to the RealNet New Home Price Index. This is a significant increase from April 2005 when the gap between a new low-rise home and a new high-rise home was $101,936.
Over the past year the average price of new low-rise homes, which include detached, semi-detached and townhomes, has increased 16 per cent while the average price of high-rise condominiums rose a modest three per cent.
The price of new homes has increased significantly since 2005, when the average price of a low-rise home was $378,281 and the average high-rise condominium cost $276,345.
“Our industry is challenged to build quality, complete communities that people in the GTA can afford to purchase,” said BILD president and CEO Bryan Tuckey. “A significant factor in the rising cost of new homes has been increased demand that is far outpacing supply, particularly in ground-related housing.”
Inventory levels of ground-related housing available for purchase across the region reached a record low of just 5,171 homes in April, according to RealNet Canada Inc., BILD’s official source for new home market intelligence. These totals are less than one-third of the inventory available to purchasers in April 2005, confirming the significant constraint of low-rise housing supply in the GTA.
High-rise inventory has remained stable, with 19,580 homes available for purchase in April.
“As the price gap continues to grow, new-home purchasers are faced with decreasing choice in housing type,” Tuckey said, adding that those most affected are first-time buyers and new Canadians. “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.”
There were 2,612 low-rise homes sold across the GTA in April alone, with the majority of sales coming from Peel and York regions. High-rise sales totalled 1,482 homes across the region with 1,021 of those transactions from the City of Toronto.
