Home Breadcrumb caret Economy Breadcrumb caret Economic Indicators Average price for GTA low-rise home exceeds $900,000 The average price of a new low-rise home in the GTA has surpassed $900,000 for the first time, says BILD. By Staff | August 22, 2016 | Last updated on August 22, 2016 3 min read The average price of a new low-rise home in the GTA has surpassed $900,000 for the first time, says the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD). The average price of new detached and semi-detached houses and townhomes was $906,508 fror July–that’s a 12% increase from July 2015. Semi-detached homes showed the strongest price increase, growing by $196,546 in just one year. These homes reached a new record high of $771,530. For townhomes, the average price was $758,434, an increase of $122,491 over last year. The price of single-family detached homes in July was $1,095,910. They first surpassed the $1 million mark in March of this year. Read: Don’t compare the booms in Toronto, Vancouver real estate High-rise homes grow in size, price The price of high-rise homes in the GTA also reached new heights in July. The new $475,764 average is a 7% increase over last year, and is attributed to increases in price per square foot and larger suite sizes. For example, the average price per square foot climbed to $594. And, suite sizes for mid and high-rise condo units increased to an average of 801 square feet. “In previous years, many builders were focusing on offering smaller and more affordable units to help first-time buyers enter the market,” says BILD president and CEO Bryan Tuckey. But, “recent months have seen the introduction of larger suites to meet the demands of the growing range of buyers who have been priced out of the low-rise market.” He adds, “New low-rise home prices have grown exponentially due to limited supply. Provincial intensification policies, delays in the approvals process and a lack of serviced developable land in the GTA has reduced the amount of new homes coming to the market.” Read: Would more rental units make the GTA more affordable? Record-low supply The supply of new homes in builders’ inventory has fallwn to a 10-year low, with just 17,213 new homes available for sale in all of the GTA as of July 31. This is a 41% decrease from a decade ago, when inventory levels were at 29,238 homes. Only 1,568 of those homes were ground-related, which is another record low. Consider that this is less than half the homes available in July 2015, when there were 4,550. Also, it’s dramatically fewer than the 16,424 available for purchase in July 2006. High-rise supply also declined in July, falling to 15,645 units. The most significant decrease was in the pre-construction stage units, which were down 25% from last year to 8,499. Read: Feds ask CMHC for ways to cool housing prices A look at new home sales One factor driving price surges is lack of supply. In fact, sales of new homes and condominiums in the first seven months of 2016 were the highest in 10 years. So far this year, there were 28,208 homes sold–of those sales, 15,852 were high-rise homes. That is 36% more than the 10-year average. Low-rise sales have also been stronger than average so far this year (at 12,356) but they are down 7% from the last year. New-home sales in July were up 12% from 2015, and 9% above the 10-year average with 3,131 transactions. The majority of the sales came from the high-rise market, with 2,226 homes sold (a 52% increase since last July). Meanwhile, low-rise sales fell to 905 homes in July, down 32% from the previous year. “The industry’s biggest challenge is bringing enough new homes to market to satisfy demand,” Tuckey says. “Projects are being sold as soon as they come to market, which is driving up prices and reducing choice for new-home purchasers.” Read: Pay mortgage or save? Help young homebuyers decide Would change to Home Buyers’ Plan help clients? A detailed breakdown of new-home sales in municipality across the GTA can be found below. July new home sales by municipality: July ’16 Low-rise High-rise Total Region 2014 2015 2016 2014 2015 2016 2014 2015 2016 Durham 250 214 357 20 21 165 270 235 522 Halton 232 178 43 264 68 77 496 246 120 Peel 390 476 104 52 94 142 442 570 246 Toronto 80 41 98 911 977 1,656 991 1,018 1,754 York 353 431 303 267 301 186 620 732 489 GTA 1,305 1,340 905 1,514 1,461 2,226 2,819 2,801 3,131 Jan-July 11,169 13,268 12,356 12,552 12,662 15,852 23,721 25,930 28,208 Source: Altus Group Staff The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998. Save Stroke 1 Print Group 8 Share LI logo