Greater Toronto Area sets record for new high-rise unit sales in 2016

Builders say a dearth of housing supply is approaching crisis levels

Greater Toronto Area sets record for new high-rise unit sales in 2016
The market for new high-rise units in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) remained red-hot in 2016, as the region the saw the most number of such units sold than any previous year on record.

There were 29,186 new-high rise units sold across the GTA last year, the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) announced. This marked a 12.2% surge over 2015.

The average size of a condo suite in the GTA grew to 826 square feet last month while the average price per square foot increased to $614. A year ago the average price per square foot was $584 while the size of an average suite was 775sq ft.

The GTA refers to Toronto and the three regional municipalities that surround it: Durham, Halton, Peel, and York. About a quarter of Canada’s population lives there. The area generates some 20% of Canada’s GDP and is home to 40% of the country’s business headquarters, said public-private partnership group Greater Toronto Marketing Alliance. 

Prices for new high-rise homes in the GTA also reached an all-time high last year, BILD said – citing figures from its official source Altus.  

The low-rise unit market saw an annualized decline is sales – but not for lack of demand. Altus executive vice president for research and consulting services Patricia Arsenault said the dip was due to “the lack of product available for purchase.”

“The fact that new product is being quickly absorbed, despite rising prices, shows there is continued buyer interest in purchasing new ground-oriented homes in the GTA,” she added.

Last December, prices for all new homes in the GTA rose to record highs as the number of homes available to buyers in builders’ inventory sunk to record lows, BILD said. There were 13,670 new homes available for purchase, less than half of the 30,400 homes that were available in builders’ inventories a decade ago.

“We have a shortage of housing supply in the GTA that is approaching crisis levels,” said BILD President and CEO Bryan Tuckey. “Housing is selling as quickly as the industry can bring it to market and the lack of developable land that is serviced with infrastructure, excessive red tape, out-of-date zoning and NIMBYism are hindering our ability to bring more to the market.”

 
December Low-Rise High-Rise Total
2014 2015 2016 2014 2015 2016 2014 2015 2016
Durham 153 94 75 37 45 47 190 139 122
Halton 53 84 50 75 43 48 128 127 98
Peel 215 197 119 59 67 89 274 264 208
Toronto 82 17 30 678 1,040 1,408 760 1,057 1,438
York 520 226 278 88 152 344 608 378 622
GTA 1,023 618 552 937 1,347 1,936 1,960 1,965 2,488
Jan-Dec 18,005 19,552 17,975 21,908 22,484 29,186 39,913 42,036 47,161


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