Report calls for immediate government intervention as home sales in the GTA are the lowest they have been in a decade

A recent report has called for emergency government intervention as home sales in the GTA have hit an all-time low. 

Drafted by the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD), the newly released study has revealed that this past July saw some of the worst movement of housing inventory in the Greater Toronto Area in nearly a decade. 

According to the data, only 645 homes sold on the market last July — a 48 per cent decrease from July of last year and a 70 per cent decline compared to the 10-year average.

As for details surrounding this struggling month of real estate, BILD’s report indicated that condos, apartments, stacked townhouses and lofts accounted for roughly 287 units sold last month. Concerning single-family detached homes in the GTA, only 367 were sold, a one per cent decrease from last year and a 42 per cent decrease compared to the 10-year average. 

“GTA new homes sales in July 2024 sank to another record monthly low as buyers remained unwilling to leave the sidelines,” said Edward Jegg, Research Manager with Altus Group who conducted the study for BILD.

Jegg further indicated that a tandem relationship between lower interest rates and the inevitable increase in inventory will — hopefully — increase property sales as long as consumer confidence improves over the coming year. 

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As for the median amount of inventory suffocating the GTA, BUILD’s data showcased 21,660 units, roughly split between 17,445 condominium apartment units and 4,215 single-family properties. 

BUILD’s report further indicated that inventory has been skyrocketing exponentially due to a downpour of new units flooding the GTA market, however, a lack of prospective buyers has resulted in substantial bloat. 

As a byproduct of this ballooning of property inventory experts are now calling for direct government intervention.

“Without immediate action by the government, new construction activity will continue to slow and the GTA’s housing shortage will reach unprecedented levels over the next few years,” said Justin Sherwood, the SVP for Communications and Stakeholder Relations with BILD.

At the time of publication, BUILD’s research has relayed that the current benchmark price for condos in the GTA is $1,020,179, while detached homes hover around $1,585,881.

For more information on this study, visit BUILD’s official website.