Newly-built condo prices declined 4% year-over-year across nine major Canadian markets in the second quarter, Statistics Canada reported Friday.

Toronto posted the steepest annual drop at 5.2%, followed by Vancouver at 3.8%, Victoria, B.C., at 3.2% and Ottawa-Gatineau at 2.9%, said the federal statistics agency.

The Toronto decline came as the new-condo development market in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area remained largely at a standstill.

No new projects were launched for a second consecutive quarter – after stopping for the first time in three decades during the first quarter –while preconstruction sales fell 80% annually to just 50 units, Urbanation reported.

But new-condo sales rose 52% to 702 units, driven by the sale of completed inventory. Developers sold 535 completed units, including bulk purchases by investment groups, more than triple the number sold a year earlier.

“After more than four years of decline, it’s an important signal to see new condo sales respond to the elimination of [the Harmonized Sales Tax on new homes, including condos] and investor activity,” said Urbanation President Sean Hildrebrand. “That said, this improvement is coming off an extremely low base, and preconstruction demand remains largely dormant. With virtually no new units being added to the pipeline, condo supply is set to see its largest ever decline in the coming years.”

Planned GTHA condo projects comprising another 1,022 units were cancelled during the second quarter, said Urbanation. The number of completed condos held by developers reached a record 5,001 units.

StatCan reported smaller year-over-yar price declines of 1.8% in Calgary, 0.7% in Edmonton and 0.1% in Halifax.

Quebec was an exception to the broader trend. New-condo prices rose 3.4% in Quebec City and 1.5% in Montreal from a year earlier.

The New Condominium Apartment Price Index tracks changes in developers’ selling prices for comparable apartment-style condos. It adjusts for differences in unit size and quality and does not measure average selling prices.

On a quarterly basis, the nine-market index declined 70 basis points.

Vancouver posted the largest quarterly decrease at 2.6%, followed by Calgary at 1.1% and Edmonton at 1%.

Quarter-over-quarter prices dropped 0.7% and 0.5% in Victoria, while Montreal and Ottawa-Gatineau saw marginal decreases. Toronto and Quebec City new-condo prices remained flat on a quarterly basis.