Toronto experiencing severe housing downturn, only 118 new condos sell in August: report

FILE: A condo building is pictured under construction in Toronto. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Arlyn McAdorey

A building association in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is calling for government intervention as they say new home sales in the region remain at “rock bottom levels.”

The new report put together by Altus Group for the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) shows only 300 new homes were sold in August, down 42 per cent from the same time last year.

Of those 300 homes, just 118 were condos or stacked townhouses, while the remaining 182 sold were single-family homes.

• READ MORE: New condo sales in GTHA continue decline as developers cancel more projects

“GTA new home sales in August 2025 remained at rock bottom levels,” Edward Jegg, research manager at Altus Group said. “New launches, in particular high-rise projects, over the past 12 months have been at a record low and at the same time, completions have reached a record high.”

The 118 condos sold marked a downturn of 59 per cent from August 2024, the report said, and was 90 per cent below the 10-year average.

As for the 182 single-family homes sold, the report said that was a dip of 21 per cent from the same time last year, and a 59 per cent drop from the 10-year average.

Jegg warned that the severe downturn of sales compared with an uptick in build completions could result in job losses for the sector.

“As further projects reach completion, new home tradespeople are becoming increasingly at risk of not being able to find employment and therefore joining the growing number of Canadians without work, putting an additional strain on the economy,” Jegg said.

“With pre-construction inventory dropping dramatically, the signs are clear that the new residential sector in the GTA is basically stopping,” added Justin Sherwood, senior vice president of communications, research, and stakeholder relations at BILD.

Sherwood said BILD is advocating for federal and provincial government intervention to suspend the GST on all new homes under $1 million and asking municipalities to lower fees and charges.

According to the report, the benchmark price of a new single-family home that sold in the GTA last month was $1,462,342, while the benchmark price for a new condo was $1,028,782.