New home sales in GTA sank to lowest level since 2000, reports find

New home sales sank to their lowest level in almost two decades in Toronto last year driven by a drop in new condominium sales, a pair of reports say.

The Altus Group Ltd. says 25,161 new homes were sold in the Greater Toronto Area in 2018, the lowest number since it started tracking sales in 2000.

New condominium sales fell 38 per cent to 21,330 while new single-family home sales plunged 50 per cent to 3,841.

The average price of new single-family homes fell 6.7 per cent to $1,143,505 in December while condo prices rose 11 per cent to $796,815.

Urbanation Inc. says new condo sales slumped 31 per cent in the fourth quarter to 6,040 from a record 8,816 in the same period of 2017.

It added that the number of resale condominium transactions in 2018 declined for a second consecutive year to 20,121 units, a drop of 16 per cent.

With 24,347 units available for sale last year, new supply outpaced demand for the first time in five years. Urbanation says a 29 per cent increase in unsold new condos in development in 2019 will limit price growth.