Ontario Construction News staff writer
The price of a newly built single-family home in the Greater Toronto Area soared 38.5 per cent year-over-year in December to a record $1.8 million.
In a year where builders saw the highest number of new home sales since 2002, inventory levels of single-family homes hit a new 12-year low of 776 by year’s end
Sales were second only to 2002, the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) announced in a report.
There were 46,651 new homes sold in the GTA in 2021, according to Altus Group*, BILD’s official source for new home market intelligence. This was 27 per cent above the 10-year average.
Sales of condominiums, including units in low, medium and high-rise buildings, stacked townhouses and loft units, were particularly strong in 2021. At 32,919 units sold, condominium apartment sales were 40 per cent above the 10-year average and only 125 units short of 2017’s all-time record.
“New condominium apartment sales were impressive in December, pushing the total for 2021 to just shy of 2017’s record,” said Edward Jegg, Analytics Team Leader at Altus Analytics, Altus Group. “Single-family new home sales continued to languish in the face of chronic low supply and soaring pricing.”
Single-family homes, including detached, linked, and semi-detached houses and townhouses (excluding stacked townhouses), accounted for 13,732 new home sales in 2021. This was four per cent above the 10-year average.
In December 2,739 new home sold, including 2,170 condominium apartment units sold, making it the second highest December after 2016.
Benchmark pricing hit new records in December. The benchmark price for new condominium apartments in December was $1,163,924 which was up 13.5 per cent over the last 12 months, and the benchmark price for new single-family homes was $1,829,693, which was up 38.5 per cent over the last 12 months.
With few new projects opening, the total new home remaining inventory dipped from the previous month to 8,922 units, the lowest level since Altus Group began recording in January 2000, and representing about 2.3 months of inventory based on average sales for the past 12 months. Remaining inventory includes units in preconstruction projects, in projects currently under construction, and in completed buildings.
“The record low inventory levels and record high benchmark pricing we saw in December illustrate perfectly why housing supply and affordability will rank among the defining issues in this year’s provincial and municipal elections,” said Justin Sherwood, BILD’s senior VP of communications and stakeholder relations.
“Insufficient housing supply is driving the GTA’s housing affordability challenge while exacerbating inequality, slowing down economic growth and threatening our collective quality of life. Voters will demand meaningful platforms and policy ideas from candidates and parties.”