GTA Construction Report staff writer
The supply of new low-rise homes continued to decline across the GTA in August, the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) reported in late September.
The amount of new detached, semi-detached and townhomes available for sale in the GTA fell to a new low of 4,298 homes last month, according to RealNet Canada Inc., BILD’s official source for new-home market intelligence. High-rise supply decreased slightly as well, bringing total inventory of new homes down to 23,057.
Low supply impacted new-home sales across the region. Low-rise sales, which include detached, semi-detached and townhomes, declined 25 per cent from August 2014. Sales of high-rise condos were down 24 per cent from August of last year.
“Demand for new homes is outpacing supply across the GTA,” said BILD president and CEO Bryan Tuckey. “Constrained supply of serviced, developable land has significantly limited inventory of new homes, and you can’t sell what you don’t have.
“There were a number of new project launches in the first half of 2015, but most of the homes were purchased shortly after they came on the market,” said Tuckey, adding that “traditionally there are fewer new launches in August, and it also impacts sales.”
The RealNet New Home Price Index showed a small decline in the average price of low-rise homes for the first time in 19 months. Prices in August 2015 averaged to $800,099 compared to 806,395 in July 2015.
Tuckey also attributes this to the seasonal slowdown and adds that low-rise prices are still 16 per cent higher than August 2014.
The index showed little change in the average price of high-rise homes. Prices in August 2015 averaged to $450,837 compared to $446,398 in July 2015.
Prices in the high-rise market have remained stable over the past year, showing a modest increase of one per cent since August 2014.
The decrease in August sales was consistent across all GTA regions, with the exception of Peel, which recorded a modest increase from August 2014. Meanwhile year-to-date sales across the GTA have remained above average, with total new-home sales sitting 13 per cent above the 10-year average at 27,416 homes.
