New-build single-family home sales hit 17-year low
Homebuyers simply can’t afford those homes, construction industry representative says, blaming provincial policies.

TheStar.com
Dec. 27, 2017
Tess Kalinowski

New construction single-family home sales in the Toronto region hit a 17-year November low — down 82 per cent from the same month last year and 75 per cent below the 10-year average of 1,319.

It’s not that single-family housing isn’t still the first choice of consumers. People simply can’t afford those homes any more, said Bryan Tuckey, CEO of the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD).

He was not available for comment on Thursday. But in a press release, Tuckey blamed the province’s anti-sprawl policies that require municipalities to cluster development near transit and other infrastructure.

That has curtailed the supply of new single-family housing and helped push the benchmark price for a new single-family house to about $1.2 million, a 25-per-cent increase over last November’s average price of $977,890.

“Our industry wants to build the single-family homes people want at prices they can afford, but we are required to implement provincial policies such as the Places to Grow Act, which mandates intensification,” Tuckey said in a Thursday press release.

Only 312 of the 3,473 new-build homes sold last month were single-family housing, a category includes detached houses, links, semi-detached and traditional townhouses.

Condo and stacked townhouses, which comprised 91 per cent of November sales, were also down 8 per cent year over year. But the 3,161 sales were still 28 per cent above the 10-year average.

Meantime, the benchmark price for one of those units grew a whopping 42.6 per cent to $702,992, from $493,137 last year.

BILD notes that a healthy market would have nine to 12 months of inventory, but the Toronto region has only three to four months’ supply.

Housing affordability in Toronto, along with Vancouver and Victoria, continued to be at its worst level, according to an RBC Economics report published last week.

It says that consumers can expect to experience more interest rate hikes in 2018 that will continue to challenge affordability.

November new-construction home sales

• 58% - Year-to-date (January to November) drop in the number of newly built, single-family homes sold in the Toronto region
• 30% - Increase in year-to-date sales of new condos and stacked townhomes
• $802 - Benchmark price per square foot for condos in November, compared to $791 in October
• 3,473 - New homes sold in the Toronto region in November, compared with a 10-year average of 2,465