Seventh consecutive month of record all-time lows for new home sales in GTA eclipses 1990s downturn

A West-end Toronto home for sale is shown in this July 15, 2023 file photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graeme Roy

New home sales in the GTA hit a seventh consecutive month of record all-time lows according to a new report, eclipsing the 1990s downturn.

The report from the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) said that there were 310 new home sales in April in the region, which is down 72 per cent from April 2024 and 89 per cent less than the 10-year average.

“Historically, new home sales for a typical April in the GTA would be 2,750 units based on the previous 10-year average,” it read.

Condos, including units in low, medium and high-rise buildings, accounted for just 105 units sold in the GTA in April, down 80 per cent from the same time last year and 94 per cent below the 10-year average.

“April 2025 new home sales across the GTA have extended the slowest period of sales on record,” said Edward Jegg, the research manager at Altus Group, which is BILD’s source for new home market data. “Buyers crave predictability and the swirling uncertainty around the impact of possible tariffs is depriving would-be purchasers of the confidence they need to move ahead.”

As for single-family home sales, the report says there were only 205 such sales in the GTA in April, down 66 per cent from last year.

“The government has reaped billions in additional tax revenue on new homes by not indexing GST price rebate thresholds since 1991 and instead has created a new mechanism that will apply to very few purchasers,” Justin Sherwood, BILD’s senior vice-president of communications, research, and stakeholder relations, said in reference to proposed measures from the federal government to provide GST relief to first-time new home buyers.

“In order to have maximum impact and address the effects of GST/HST on eroding home affordability, the federal government must broaden the scope of the GST (HST) measures to all new home purchases.”

The report also said that benchmark prices decreased in April for both single-family homes and condos in the GTA compared to the previous year. The benchmark price for new condos was $1,019,120, down 3.6 per cent, while the benchmark price for new single-family homes was $1,530,126, down 5.4 per cent.