GTA housing market on track for average year

GREATER TORONTO, June 19, 2012 /CNW/ - New home sales in the GTA remained on par with the historic average, despite a modest decline from last year's record-breaking figures, the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) announced today.

While new home sales in May were in line with sales seen over the last five years, they could not match the success of May 2011, which still stands as one of the best on record.

According to RealNet Canada Inc., BILD's official source of new home market intelligence, total new home sales in May decreased by 27 per cent over May 2011 while modestly outdoing its 2010 predecessor.

"As we've observed over the last few months, the residential construction market is now back to a regular, steady pace," said BILD President and CEO Bryan Tuckey, adding that it's important to view the long-term average before jumping to conclusions based on 2011 comparisons. "Looking back at sales over the last five years, we see that the market is once again where it should be."

High-rise sales in Durham and York Regions continued to grow, while total high-rise sales declined by 35-per-cent from May 2011.

Low-rise sales saw a decrease of 15 per cent across the GTA with year-to-date totals matching those of last year.

May '12	Low Rise			High Rise			Total
Region	2011	2012	% Change	2011	2012	% Change	2011	2012	% Change
Durham	284	255	-10.2%	4	78	1850.0%	288	333	15.6%
Halton	118	206	74.6%	47	52	10.6%	165	258	56.4%
Peel	577	358	-38.0%	210	69	-67.1%	787	427	-45.7%
Toronto	77	21	-72.7%	2,290	1,099	-52.0%	2,367	1,120	-52.7%
York	824	750	-9.0%	134	435	224.6%	958	1,185	23.7%
GTA	1,880	1,590	-15.4%	2,685	1,733	-35.5%	4,565	3,323	-27.2%
Jan-May	7,917	8,040	1.6%	11,506	8,924	-22.4%	19,423	16,964	-12.7%

Source: RealNet Canada Inc.

With more than 1,350 members, BILD, formed through the merger of the Greater Toronto Home Builders' Association and Urban Development Institute/Ontario, is the voice of the land development, home building and professional renovation industry in the Greater Toronto Area.  BILD is proudly affiliated with the Ontario and Canadian Home Builders' Associations.

Amy Lazar  
Manager, Communications 
416-391-3452 or 416-543-3903 
[email protected]

Andrei Zaretski
Manager, Marketing & Media Relations
416-391-3450 or 416-843-4898
[email protected]