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

The market for new high-rise units in the Greater Toronto Are (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 Atlus.

The low-rise unit market saw an annualized decline is sales – but not for lack of demand. Atlus 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can bring it to market and the lack of developable land that is serviced with infrastructure, excessive red tape, out-of-date zoning and NIMBYism are hindering our ability to bring more to the market.”

MBN

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