Greater Toronto Area condominium-apartment sales plunged 63% in December 2024 compared to the previous year, says the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) in a new report.

The result underscores a deepening slowdown in the new home market, according to BILD.

Data from Altus Group, BILD’s source for new-home market intelligence, revealed that only 150 new condominium apartment units, including those in low, medium, and high-rise buildings, were sold in December. The low output marked an 86% decline from the 10-year average.

Overall, GTA new-home sales reached record lows in 2024, with just 9,816 units sold throughout the year, marking a 47% drop from 2023 and a staggering 69% decline from the 10-year average.

Edward Jegg, research manager at Altus, said in a BILD news release that 2024 will go down as a historic year, with December’s new-home sales hitting their lowest point in nearly 40 years and completions spelling the lowest annual total since 1990.

“As 2025 begins, new-home buyers remain unwilling to re-enter the market despite lower mortgage rates, falling prices, and elevated inventories,” said Jegg.

Sales of single-family homes, including detached, linked, and semi-detached houses as well as townhouses (excluding stacked townhouses), were relatively stable. In December, 160 single-family units were sold—only a 1% decrease from December 2023 but still 62% below the 10-year average.

Total new-home remaining inventory declined slightly from the previous month to 21,787 units, including 16,967 condominium apartment units and 4,820 single-family dwellings. The overall inventory level equates to 14 months’ worth of supply, based on the average sales rate of the last 12 months. Despite the stable inventory, very few new homes were added to the market due to challenging economic conditions, said BILD.

December’s new-home sales and the low new home sales seen throughout 2024 in the GTA illustrate the problem the region is facing adding new housing supply, according to Justin Sherwood, senior vice-president of communications, research, and stakeholder relations at BILD.

“We are literally watching the foundation of the next housing crisis being laid today,” he said.

“While the resale market has shown some signs of life thanks to lower rates, new builds are continuing to face a cost-to-build challenge. Skyrocketing construction costs, soaring financing rates, and increasingly high municipal fees over the last five years have made it financially impossible to build homes that the market can, and is willing to, absorb at present prices.”

As sales plummet, housing starts are sliding – and will continue to follow the sales trajectory, he added.

“Without immediate action from governments to reduce development charges and municipal fees, the future housing supply of the GTA is in peril,” said Sherwood.

Benchmark prices for both new condominium apartments and single-family homes declined in December compared to the previous year. But pricing still remains elevated. The benchmark price for new condominium apartments fell 2.8% to $1.02 million, while new single-family homes saw a 3.4% decline to $1.6 million.

BILD represents 1,200 member companies in the homebuilding, land development, and professional renovation industries across the GTA.

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