House Prices In The GTA Have Officially Broken Another Record & It's Not For Being Cheap

Once again, it's official — buying a home in the GTA is harder than it is to buy one in downtown Toronto.

The Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) and Altus Group just put out a new report on new home sales and prices in the GTA for September, and it includes some record-breaking revelations.

The GTA housing market seemed to be popping off this past September with over 3,500 units sold (which is 16% above the 10-year average in the area). Over 1,000 new single-family homes were sold in the GTA (including detached, semi-detached and linked townhouse units), while just under 2,500 condos, stacked townhouses, and lofts were sold.

The report revealed that it was the third-highest number of condo sales in this month since they started tracking real estate trends in 2000.

Inventory failed to keep up with the sales of single-family homes this September. Meanwhile, due to new condo projects mushrooming in the GTA, the remaining inventory actually increased compared to August and went up to over 11,000 units available.

"While available inventory is relatively low for both new single-family homes and new condominium apartments, the current supply dynamics are different for each sector," Edward Jegg, Analytics Team Leader at Altus Analytics, Altus Group said in the report. "There is very little new single-family product making it to the market, which is driving prices to new records. In contrast, there are significant levels of new condominium apartment product being launched, but strong demand means it is being bought up relatively quickly."

Benchmark prices for new single-family homes also broke a record for September, which went up to $1,573,764. This reported price point is a 33.5% jump over the last 12 months.

As for the GTA's new condos, there was only a 2% increase over the same period of time, with benchmark prices coming out at $1,036,831.

Recently, Toronto was named as one of the least affordable cities in North America to live in, and it comes as no surprise since first-time homebuyers in the 6ix are asking their parents for help with their down payments.

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.