Ontario’s new home sales skyrocketed in the second quarter, with the building industry crediting a federal HST rebate for helping to bring some buyers back into the market. New data tracked by the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) shows more than 8,400 new homes were sold across the province between April and June, compared with about 3,600 over the same period in 2025. “The data that we just collected over the second quarter of this year compared to last year shows 130 per cent increase in new home sales,” said Scott Andison, CEO of the Ontario Home Builders’ Association. In the report, commissioned by BILD, 4,765 additional sales were associated with the HST reduction. “Taking up to $130,000 off the price of a new home put homeownership back into reach for a number of Ontario families,” Andison said. The report also indicated the surge in sales was having an impact on the construction industry. An earlier economic analysis predicted that up to 100,000 construction-related jobs could be at risk by 2030 if new-home sales remained at 2025 levels for a prolonged period. “The estimate is that [the rebate] saved about 17,000 of those 100,000 jobs at risk just in the second quarter alone,” Andison explained. But real estate professionals stress that the dramatic increase needs some context. “We’ve more than doubled, but from what levels? From basically historical lows of where we were,” said Shawn Ramautor of Royal LePage Wolle Realty. He pointed out that the biggest increase has been in the freehold and detached-home market, while the condominium sector has seen a much smaller bump. The report also indicated the increase in new-home sales came from the single-family sector. Ramautor said, in Waterloo Region, the HST incentive has generated some additional interest, but buyers aren’t necessarily rushing back into the new-home market. “We have seen a bit of a bump, but I wouldn’t say that I’ve seen a 180-degree turn, of the phone ringing off the hook saying buyers are willing to get out there.” There is also uncertainty over what will happen when the temporary HST relief expires. “Is the HST reprieve going to be renewed annually?” Ramautor asked. “We don’t know that yet.” The HST rebate is set to expire at the end of March 2027, but the industry said discussions about future measures will continue with the government.
