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The Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) has released its market results for the GTA new home market, announcing that the GTA's home sales in January 2013 were definitely split between the low-rise and high-rise market.
In the high-rise market, new home buyers are still looking for and finding quality, affordable homes across the GTA. Choice in the high-rise market is a direct result of provincial public policy which has resulted in an ever increasing emphasis on intensification, and the industry is adapting to the shift.
In January, new home buyers purchased 686 high-rise homes, most of which were sold in the City of Toronto. Buyers interested in owning a new condominium in the 905 area found a variety of projects in York Region as well.
The tale of the low-rise market is illustrated by constrained land supply and a lack of product and choice. According to RealNet Canada Inc., BILD's official source of new home market intelligence, new home buyers purchased 562 single, semi-detached and townhomes in the GTA.
"People still want to purchase a detached, semi-detached or townhome in the GTA and over the last few years, we have seen a reduction in sales of ground-related housing. A typical January for the low-rise market would have seen more than 1,000 new homes sold across the GTA," said BILD President and CEO Bryan Tuckey. "The level of ground-related housing sales resulted in 1,248 new homes to be sold in the GTA - almost 1,000 below the long-term average. This is a direct result of reduced affordability and choice in the low-rise sector and illustrates the effect of public policy on the market."
The RealNet New Home Price Index indicated a 16 per cent increase in the low-rise sector over January 2012 ($639,588). High-rise condominiums remained the more affordable option in the GTA, with a two per cent increase in the price-per-square-foot bringing the unit price index to $435,722.
A statistical backgrounder can be found here.
