New home sales fall victim to new lending restrictions

GREATER TORONTO, Nov. 21, 2012 /CNW/ - Stricter lending restrictions have led to a drop in consumer confidence and affordability, causing new home sales to decline for the third consecutive month, the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) reported today.

According to RealNet Canada Inc., BILD's official source of new home market intelligence, 2,792 new homes were sold in October, which is the second-lowest October record. Due to three low sales months in a row, year-to-date sales of 29,322 new homes across the GTA have slipped to 14 per cent below the long-term average - the third-lowest in BILD's records.

The high-rise sector still holds a prominent share of the market, with 1,914 sales in October 2012 totalling the fifth-highest October on record.

"In an attempt to cool down the market, the federal government has severely affected the building and development industry in the GTA," said BILD President and CEO Bryan Tuckey. "The introduction of stricter mortgage regulations has triggered a decline in new home sales, and if this trend continues, it will affect job creation in the coming years, restricting economic growth."

The building and development industry plays a key role in the economic prosperity of the GTA and the Province of Ontario. Last year alone, the industry created 193,300 jobs and paid $10.1 billion in wages.

Tuckey added that first-time home buyers are those most affected under the new rules, which have taken a considerable portion of potential purchasers out of the market.

The RealNet New Home Price Index for a low-rise home rose 16 per cent over October 2011 to $616,623 while pricing for high-rise homes increased 2 per cent to $439,328.

BILD will continue to monitor this trend as new projects enter the market in the coming months.

A statistical backgrounder can be found here. Contact Andrei Zaretski at [email protected] or Amy Lazar at [email protected] for more information.

Oct '12	Low Rise			High Rise			Total
Region	2010	2011	2012	2010	2011	2012	2010	2011	2012
Durham	156	252	214	9	10	12	165	262	226
Halton	300	364	98	199	127	36	499	491	134
Peel	213	503	275	136	71	233	349	574	508
Toronto	123	75	13	2,627	1,983	1,426	2,750	2,058	1,439
York	569	437	278	413	877	207	982	1,314	485
GTA	1,361	1,631	878	3,384	3,068	1,914	4,745	4,699	2,792
Jan-Oct	13,655	15,207	12,758	17,464	23,814	16,564	31,119	39,021	29,322

With more than 1,375 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.

SOURCE: Building Industry and Land Development Association

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]