GTA new home sales up smartly in May

GREATER TORONTO, June 21 /CNW/ - New home buyers snapped-up 3,004 new homes and condominiums in May with sales of high-rise condominium suites leading the market surge, the Building Industry & Land Development Association (BILD) announced today.

According to RealNet Canada Inc., BILD's official, independent source of new home market information, the 3,004 new home sales represents a 13 per cent increase over May 2009. RealNet revealed that sales of high-rise condominium suites rose 66 per cent over this time last year, while sales of low-rise (single-detached, semi-detached and town-homes) units declined a modest 14 per cent year/year.

Through the first five months of 2010, total new home sales are up 116 per cent compared with the first five months of 2009. The resurgence in the new home market is being driven by the condominium sector which is up a whopping 244 per cent in comparison to the January-May 2009 period.

Acknowledging that comparisons with the first part of 2009 are exaggerated by the denominator (the first five months of 2009 unfolded under the dark cloud of the global economic crisis), BILD President and CEO Stephen Dupuis pointed out that total new home sales so far this year are running 26 per cent of the same period in 2008, well before the crisis.

Dupuis attributed the continued strength of the new home market to a combination of factors including homebuyers striking pre-emptively to avoid potentially higher interest rates and/or to beat the HST which takes effect July 1, 2010. He added that the launch of a number of well-located, distinctively-designed new condominium buildings has sparked that sector.

    
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    May '10       Low Rise             High Rise              Total
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    Region  2009  2010  % Change  2009  2010  % Change  2009   2010  %Change
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    Durham  241    380    57.7%    11     2    -81.8%   252     382    51.6%
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    Halton  323    200   -38.1%    10    60    500.0%   333     260   -21.9%
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    Peel    381    352    -7.6%    56    38    -32.1%   437     390   -10.8%
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    Toronto  95     17   -82.1%   758  1,188    56.7%   853   1,205    41.3%
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    York    734    582   -20.7%    54    185   242.6%   788     767    -2.7%
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    GTA   1,774  1,531   -13.7%   889  1,473    65.7% 2,663   3,004    12.8%
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    Jan-May
          5,313  8,397    58.0% 2,373  8,170   244.3% 7,686  16,567   115.5%
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    Source:  RealNet Canada Inc.
    

With more than 1,300 members, BILD, formed through the merger of the Greater Toronto Home Builders' Association and Urban Development Institute/Ontario, is the voice of the land development, home building and professional renovation industry in the Greater Toronto Area. BILD is proudly affiliated with the Ontario and Canadian Home Builders' Associations.

For further information: Andrei Zaretski, Manager, Communications, 416-391-3450 or 416-843-4898, [email protected]; Stephen Dupuis, President, Chief Executive Officer, 416-391-3453 or 416-948-8654, [email protected]