Latest market results show sales up 54% over 2013

George Carras – Toronto Star

The GTA’s new-home market appears to be firing on all cylinders, according to third quarter sales results for 2014.

Released this week by RealNet Canada Inc., the first nine months of this year show buyers purchased 30,143 new homes across the GTA. It represents a very strong, 54% increase over the same period in 2013, for a total of approximately $18 billion in market activity.

There were 13,174 new lowrise homes (detached, semi-detached, townhouse) supplied to the market in the first nine months of 2014, and the market responded with 13,733 sales, totaling $10 billion.

Demand for lowrise homes in the GTA continues to outpace the industry’s ability to provide supply, largely due to the restrictions and limitations that have come as a result of the province’s intensification policies.

The Low Rise Price Index has continued to climb through the year. The index set a new record high of $689,611 as of Sept. 30 – with the price difference between a lowrise and a highrise new home continuing to widen.

Strong demand wasn’t limited just to the lowrise sector, however; it was also seen in new highrise homes (apartment condominium, loft and stacked townhomes). There were 13,951 new highrise homes supplied to the market in the first three quarters of 2014, only slightly more than the lowrise supply.

But sales of new high rise homes totalled 16,410 units, an increase of 53% from last year – the third strongest year-to-date sales of new, highrise homes in the last decade.

Sales of new highrise homes totaled $8 billion and outpaced supply by 18%. The RealNet High Rise Price Index of $450,014 (as of Sept. 30) increased by 4% from 2013.

And it’s important to note that there has been a shift of approximately 10% toward more two-bedroom oriented units, and away from one-bedroom oriented units, increasing the supply of larger-sized units in the market.

As of Sept. 30, there were 52,777 new highrise condominium units under construction across the GTA, in 211 projects that were 86% pre-sold.

The level of construction activity has declined by approximately 20% from its peak of 66,126 units in July 2013, as completions during that time period have outpaced new starts.

While 2014 is far from over, this year has already established a new record in the number of new, highrise units being completed and delivered to the market. The previous annual record was set in 2013, with 16,668 new high rise units completed. During the first nine months of 2014, GTA builders have completed 19,722 units.

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Contact Laurin Jeffrey for more information – 416-388-1960

Laurin Jeffrey is a Toronto real estate agent with Century 21 Regal Realty.
He did not write these articles, he just reproduces them here for people who
are interested in Toronto real estate. He does not work for any builders.
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