NEWS RELEASE
BUILDING INDUSTRY AND LAND DEVELOPMENT (BILD) ASSOCIATION
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It was a busy month by July standards as both condo sales and single-family sales were up year over year, the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) announced today.
There were 566 new single-family homes, including detached, linked and semi-detached houses and townhouses, sold in July, according to Altus Group, BILD’s official source for new home market intelligence. Although sales increased 136 per cent from last July, they were 29 per cent below the 10-year average.
Sales of new condominium apartments in low, medium and highrise buildings, stacked townhouses and loft units, with 2,297 units sold, were up 22 per cent from July 2018 and 42 per cent above the 10-year average.
“Typically, buyers take a bit of a vacation from the new condo apartment market in July. This year was no different, although the decline in sales was less pronounced than usual, resulting in the second strongest July on record,” said Patricia Arsenault, Altus Group’s Executive Vice-President, Data Solutions. “While few new projects launched in July, sales at projects opened in June were brisk.”
The benchmark price of new condominium apartments increased from last month, to $838,824, up 8.3 per cent over the last 12 months. The benchmark price of new single-family homes decreased slightly from last month, to $1,091,727, down 4.5 per cent over the last 12 months, continuing its moderating trend in 2019.
Strong July sales, paired with traditional fewer summer openings, saw inventory decrease in July to 12,873 condominium apartment units and 4,409 single-family homes. Remaining inventory includes units in preconstruction projects, in projects currently under construction and in completed buildings.
Total new home sales in the first seven months of 2019, at 20,268 units sold, are up 45 per cent from the same period in 2018 and 9 per cent below the 10-year average.
“The price gap between single-family homes and condos continues to shrink, leaving new home buyers with a lack of choice,” said David Wilkes, BILD President and CEO. “We must provide more ‘missing middle’ type development that can support transit in established neighbourhoods. More ‘gentle density’ housing in the form of mid-rise buildings, condos with street level retail, and stacked townhouses is needed to give consumers more choice.”
With 1,500 member companies, BILD is the voice of the home building, land development and professional renovation industry in the Greater Toronto Area. The building and renovation industry provides $34 billion in investment value and employs 270,000 people in the region. BILD is proudly affiliated with the Ontario and Canadian Home Builders' Associations.
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