Sales of new homes in the GTA hit near a “record low” in January with buyers continuing to wait on the sidelines, despite excessive inventory.
The Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) said in its Friday report there were 347 new homes sales last month, down 40 year cent year over year, and 77 per cent below the 10-year average.
“January 2025 new homes sales across the GTA record a near record low,” said Edward Jegg, research manager at Altus Group, BILD’s source for new home market data.
“Despite a further Bank of Canada cut, excessive inventory and falling prices, GTA new home buyers are nowhere to be found.”
Condos — including units in low, medium and highrise buildings — accounted for 101 units sold in the GTA in January, down 58 per cent from January 2023 and 88 per cent below the 10-year average.
There were 246 single-family new home sales in the GTA in January, down 27 per cent from January 2023 and 63 per cent below the 10-year average. Single-family homes include detached and semi-detached houses, and townhouses (excluding stacked townhouses).
Total new home remaining inventory remained flat in January compared to the previous month. The inventory level — the time it would take to sell inventory on the market based on current demand — is 14 months. A healthy market level is around nine to 12 months.
Justin Sherwood, BILD’s senior vice-president of communications, research, and stakeholder relations, believes with the spring market on the horizon it’s “prime time” for buyers to step into the market as prices have dropped around 20 per cent since the 2022 peak.
Prices decreased in January for new single-family homes by 1.2 per cent year over year, while condo prices decreased by 3.5 per cent.
However, the cost to build a new home “remains high,” Sherwood said, due to labour and material costs.
Buyers continue to remain on the sidelines in part because there is also significant inventory in the resale condo market (existing supply), which has an impact on the new build market. For example, buyers tend to look at preconstruction more often when the resale market has limited supply.
The threat of tariff wars with the U.S. has also caused potential buyers to wait and see how the economy will adjust, while some are also waiting to see if the Bank of Canada will cut interest rates further, Sherwood said.
“Regardless, conditions for those looking to buy a new home have not been better since 2016 from an inventory perspective, and 2019 from a price perspective,” he added.
