‘Toughest year in three decades’: New condo sales in GTHA saw steep decline in 2024

A new condo construction site is seen in downtown Toronto on Thursday, May 25, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young (Chris Young/The Canadian Press)

The bad news keeps coming for the GTHA’s new condo market.

A report from real estate analytics firm Urbanation, released Thursday, found that in 2024, new condo sales in the region totalled just 4,590, marking a 64 per cent drop from 2023.

It is the third straight year new condo sales have declined in the region and 2024 saw the lowest number of sales seen since 1996.

“The new condo market just experienced its toughest year in three decades. Expectations for the market remain low this year as investors, the primary driver of presale activity, continue to deal with negative cash flow, difficulties arranging financing and declining prices and rents,” the report read.

“The drop in presale activity will continue to cripple construction starts in 2025, causing a massive decrease in new supply beginning in 2026-2027.”

The report notes that just six projects, totalling 1,829 units, launched for resale in the fourth quarter of last year, with only 10 per cent of units sold.

For context, over the past 10 years, an average of 6,123 new units launched in the fourth quarter, seeing an average sales rate of 52 per cent, Urbanation said.

Last year, the GTHA saw a record number of new condo completions, with 29,800 units finished in 2024, 24 per cent higher than the previous record set in 2023 and 61 per cent higher than the 10-year average.

“Completions are set for another record high in 2025 with 30,793 units scheduled to finish construction,” the report read.

In Toronto’s resale market, sales have started to pick up thanks to lower interest rates and recent changes to lending rules but many experts believe the condo market will continue to experience softness in 2025.

Cameron Forbes, the general manager and Chief Operating Officer of REMAX Realtron Reality Inc., told CP24.com last month that condo prices will be the slowest to recover when looking at all segments of the market.

“The reality for the condo market is there is even more supply in that market and there are a lot of new condos coming online that have been newly constructed,” Forbes said in December.

“Truly, the price is not moving anywhere in that market.”

Royal LePage is predicting a one per cent decline in Toronto condo prices by the fourth quarter of 2025.

Are you looking to move up in the housing market but struggling to sell your condo? Have you delayed a move due to the current housing market conditions? CP24 would like to hear from you.

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