New home sales in Ontario “surged” in the second quarter of 2026 thanks in large part to the enhanced HST rebate, according to a new report. In a report published this week, the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) said that new home sales rose by 130 per cent year-over-year in the second quarter of 2026. “The driving force behind this increase has been the announcement of the provincial-federal enhanced HST rebate program, which began on April 1 and took full effect in late June,” a news release from BILD read. The second quarter of 2026 saw 8,410 new home sales in the province, up from 3,645 sales during the same period last year. “Following several quarters of extraordinarily weak new housing sales in Ontario, a collapse in activity risking a significant crisis in the housing sector, the Ontario and federal governments responded with policy providing critical, temporary, investment in the affordability and accessibility of new homes in Ontario,” the report read. “This investment aimed to quickly stimulate a more functional level of sales and ultimately preserve important jobs in the housing sector that were at risk. Those measures were introduced and came into effect at the beginning of the second quarter.” Ontario and the federal government announced in March that the HST rebate would be temporarily expanded for new homes in the province for one year, allowing all buyers a rebate of up to $130,000. “It is incredibly positive to know that 4,765 families across Ontario were able to purchase new homes as a result of the enhanced HST rebate program,” Justin Sherwood, Chief Operating Officer of BILD, said in a news release. “The historic buying opportunity that the HST rebate program presents cannot be understated. As a result of the additional new home sales in the second quarter of 2026, it is estimated that in the first three months of the program 17,300 jobs in the construction industry were protected, around $2.8 billion in GDP was preserved and approximately $1.4 billion in gross government revenues was maintained.” Scott Andison, Chief Executive Officer of the Ontario Home Builders Association, noted that the second quarter numbers do not yet reflect the impact of the Development Charge Reduction Program, which is anticipated to alleviate additional cost pressures for builders. “We are likely to see a further economic boost as home builders get more shovels in the ground and the cost to build becomes more affordable,” Andison said in the release. The report notes that nearly all of the additional homes sold were in the single-family home segment, signaling that new condo sales have not seen the same boost. In a report released last month analyzing new home sales in June, new condo sales in the region remained “well off the 10-year average.” The GTA saw 1,175 new homes sales in June, which included 902 single-family homes and 273 condos. That report noted that while sales in the single-family home segment were up more than two times from last year’s record low, condo sales merely “limped higher” from last year, remaining well below the 10-year average of 1,792.
