Low-rise sales push October new-home sales to spike year over year

GREATER TORONTO, Nov. 21, 2013 /CNW/ - Sales of new low-rise homes rose by 67 per cent in October from October 2012, and high-rise sales were up 17 per cent in the same period. Combined, new-home sales rose 32 per cent from October 2012.

According to RealNet Canada Inc., BILD's official source for new-home market intelligence, the pricing index - or the average asking price of available inventory excluding the extremes - for low-rise was among the factors for the jump as it dropped 0.6 per cent from September to October.

While October was a strong sales month, the year-to-date figures are still the lowest total in 10 years. The January-to-October sales were down 19 per cent from the 10-month period in 2012, and 26 per cent lower than the 10-year average.

The decline is attributed to a significant reduction in land supply for low-rise housing, resulting in near-record low inventories and near-record high pricing.

"Constrained land supply has caused land prices to increase dramatically over the past decade," said BILD president and CEO Bryan Tuckey, explaining the 10-year low in year-to-date sales.

Supply of new homes for the January-to-October period (25,491 units) is down 27 per cent from 2012 (35,006).

"Builders are being much more careful about how much and when they're launching high-rise projects," Tuckey added. "Restrictive land policies are keeping low-rise supply low. That's what we're seeing in these new numbers."

As for the remaining inventory, there were 31,425 units on the market by the end of October, up 2.1 per cent from September.

Meanwhile, the RealNet new home price index showed the average cost of a low-rise home in the GTA was $655,237 for October, up 6.3 per cent from October 2012. The cost of a high-rise unit stands at $432,825, a 1.5-per-cent drop from 2012. The current price gap between low- and high-rise is $222,412, the second-highest on record (the highest came last month: $226,016).

"Near record high pricing has pushed the costs of ground-related housing beyond what people can afford to buy in the GTA," Tuckey said.

A document detailing October new home sales is available for viewing. For additional information, contact Aonghus Kealy at BILD.

Oct '13	Low Rise			High Rise			Total
Region	2011	2012	2013	2011	2012	2013	2011	2012	2013
Durham	241	219	258	10	11	36	251	230	294
Halton	363	100	104	124	35	374	487	135	478
Peel	496	273	423	68	224	128	564	497	551
Toronto	75	11	91	2,006	1,567	1,349	2,081	1,578	1,440
York	439	273	589	862	215	516	1,301	488	1,105
GTA	1,614	876	1,465	3,070	2,052	2,403	4,684	2,928	3,868
Jan-Oct	4,684	2,928	3,868	38,956	28,916	23,289	43,640	31,844	27,157

Source: RealNet Canada Inc.

With more than 1,400 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.

SOURCE: Building Industry and Land Development Association

Aonghus Kealy
Manager, Communications                   
416-391-3452 or 416-543-3903
[email protected]