March saw a multitude of new home sales in the GTA, ultimately tipping Q1 into strong territory, according to new figures released by the Building Industry & Land Development Association (BILD) through a report by RealNet.
Altogether, there were 3,434 new homes and condos sold in March 2011. During Q1 there was a total of 9,374 units sold which signals a drop of 8.5 %, year-over-year.
“Last year, we experienced the new home sales equivalent of March madness as 4,569 new homes were snapped up by homebuyers in a single month. The 3,434 new homes sales in March of this year, albeit down 25 per cent year/year, represents a healthy but much more stable level of activity," said BILD President and CEO Stephen Dupuis.
"While the demand side remains strong, the interplay of factors like the HST and the new mortgage financing rules are certainly keeping the froth factor at bay as the new housing market moves into a state of sustainable equilibrium," he added.
Looking at Q1 completely, RealNet Canada President George Carras pointed out that high-rise sales were steady with those seen in Q1/2010, partly attributed to the $75,000 price differential compared with low-rise. The current high-rise price index sits at $446,965 while the low-rise product is a staggering $522,034 for low-rise product.
"You can't sell what you don't have," Carras explained, noting that as at March 31, 2011, there was only 5.5 months of supply of low-rise new homes. "Active new home inventories are well below the long-term average levels."
Looking at various regions through the GTA, the York area saw the biggest drop, down by 40.7%, followed by Toronto proper at 25.8%. On the other side, the biggest increase was in Halton, where sales increased by 43.1%- which, incidentally is the only region to register an increase.
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