Toronto by Oceanik
The new home market in the Greater Toronto Area rocketed upwards in November 2010, with 4,605 construction starts recorded in the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) report. Compared to November 2009, the number of new construction starts increased by 83%.
Getting over the hurdle
The October 2010 numbers were disappointingly low, reaching the bottom of new home construction activity for the year, but the following month saw a significant boost, towards the highest point since 2008. Solid gains were recorded in all segments, but the typically volatile apartment construction sector contributed the most to this increase. A high number of pre-construction sales of high-rise condominiums (which began before the last recession) suggested higher numbers for the last months of 2010, and in November the activity finally caught up with these expectations. Meanwhile, single-detached construction starts saw a boost thanks to sales contracts signed at the end of 2009, when market activity was at its highest. Last year also saw a slight downward slope for single-detached activity, while high-rise activity picked up gradually.
The bottom line is that, even before we see the data from December, the 2010 construction starts rate in the GTA have already exceeded 2009’s total, having levelled off at about 30,000 new units.
