Sales of new?condos in the Greater Toronto Area?were up 27% year-over-year in 2019 thanks to a surge in the last few months.
New data from Urbanation shows that 25,097 units were sold last year, marking the third highest level on record.
The final quarter of 2019 saw sales soar 38% above their year-ago levels with 8,044 units sold. That almost matches the record 8,755 unit sales in the fourth quarter of 2017.
Builders reported that 75% of the units they brought to presale market in 2019 were sold, up from 63% in 2018. Unsold inventory was down 4.8% to 13,373, remaining below the 10-year average of 15,907.
New condo inventory at current sales pace is 6.4 months, below the 10 months considered balanced.
All of this meant prices were pressured upwards, with pricing for available units hitting a record high of $1,073 psf ? up 9% year-over-year.
Asa that increase follows the 50% two-year increase between 2016 and 2018, new condo prices have effectively doubled over the past decade.
Investor interest
A total of 18,232 units were sold in projects that launched in 2019 ? up 17% compared to new launches sold in 2018.
These sales tend to indicate strong investor interest although sales within pre-existing projects in development that launched prior to 2019 posted a 70% jump to 6,865 units, providing evidence of a rebound in demand from end-user buyers as well.
