Toronto new home sales off nearly 40% in August
Sales of new homes plunged 39.6 per cent in August in the Toronto area, compared with a year earlier, the Building Industry & Land Development Association said Friday.
Low-rise sales in Toronto and the surrounding Durham, Halton, Peel and York regions fell 53.1 per cent to 709 from 1,511, while highrise sales were down 25.3 per cent to 1,067 from 1,428, the group said in a release.
In addition, year-to-date sales were off 29 per cent from the first eight months of 2007.
But while sales volumes were down, prices increased. In the first eight months of the year, new home prices were up 5.9 per cent and highrise condominium prices jumped 17.9 per cent.
Association president Michael Moldenhauer said that although the volume numbers were way down, the 22,043 new homes and condos sold in the first eight months of 2008 still represent a healthy market.
He noted that the drop in 2008 sales is measured against a record-breaking 2007, when 30,900 homes were sold.
The new home price index produced by RealNet Canada Inc. shows single detached houses, semi-detached and townhomes were up $24,389 since August 2007, while the highrise price index jumped $58,833.
Highrise sales accounted for more than half of all sales.
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