New detached home prices dip in September, as condos continue to climb
There were more new construction homes available in September but inventory remains low, say builders.

TheStar.com
Oct. 27, 2017
Tess Kalinowski

The cost of a newly constructed detached home in the Toronto region dipped slightly in September to $1.6 million, down from about $1.8 million in August as more new low-rise housing came onto the market.

Builders typically launch new projects and more phases to existing developments in the fall, said Patricia Arsenault, executive vice-president of Altus Group, which researches new home sales for the Building and Land Development Association (BILD).

Nevertheless, BILD says the inventory of new homes remains, "well below what is considered a healthy level."

Its September statistics show that sales of new construction low-rise homes — a category that includes detached houses, semi-detached and town homes — fell 73 per cent, compared to the same month last year.

Although they continue to dominate Toronto-area new home sales, condos — including high rises, low-rise apartments and stacked town homes — also saw a 37 per cent drop in the number of sales.

Eighty per cent of the new homes sold in the region this year were condos.

The average price of a condo was $661,188 last month, up slightly from the August average of $644,327 and 36 per cent higher than last September.

The average price per square foot was $789 and the average unit was 838 sq. ft. That compares to $750 per sq. ft. in August and a size of 859 sq. ft. on average.

Across the category, low-rise home prices saw a slight dip from about $1.2 million from about $1.3 million in August. The average was still 21 per cent higher than last September's price of $992,391, said BILD.

This year to date, low-rise new home sales are down 53 per cent.

Townhouses, often considered a starter home, averaged about $1 million in the region last month.

Of the 352 pre-construction, low-rise homes sold across the region in September, only seven were in the City of Toronto. There were 134 low-rise home sales in Halton Region.

Condo construction continues to be centred in Toronto where 868 of the region's 1,246 pre-construction sales occurred in September.