Barrie Construction News staff writer
New home sales in the Greater Toronto Area have plunged to historic lows, raising fears of widespread layoffs and a severe housing downturn unless governments act quickly, the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) warned Tuesday.
Just 300 new homes were sold across the GTA in August, down 42 per cent from the same month last year and 81 per cent below the 10-year average of 1,595 sales, according to data from Altus Group, BILD’s market research partner.
“GTA new home sales in August 2025 remained at rock bottom levels,” said Edward Jegg, research manager at Altus Group. “As further projects reach completion, new home tradespeople are becoming increasingly at risk of not being able to find employment and therefore joining the growing number of Canadians without work.”
Condominium sales accounted for 118 of the transactions, a 59 per cent drop from last year and 90 per cent below the decade average. Single-family homes made up 182 sales, down 21 per cent year-over-year and 59 per cent below average.
In Simcoe County, which is now included in the monthly reporting, there were no condo sales and 36 single-family home sales at an average price of about $1.1 million.
Despite weak sales, GTA builders reported an inventory of more than 22,000 new homes in August, the highest on record. At current sales rates, that represents 20 months of supply.
BILD says the slowdown is spreading to other regions, including Greater Vancouver, Ottawa, Kitchener-Waterloo and even Calgary, threatening jobs and housing supply in the years ahead.
“Forget achieving the federal government’s goal of 500,000 homes per year — over the next few years it will be a stretch to keep annual housing starts in the 200,000 range,” said Justin Sherwood, BILD’s senior vice-president of communications, research and stakeholder relations. “Residential construction workers and hardworking families looking to find a home in the 2027-2031 period will be the ones that bear the brunt of inaction.”
The association is calling on governments to suspend GST on new homes under $1 million, accelerate provincial development charge reforms and push municipalities to lower fees and charges on new housing.
Benchmark prices remained high despite the slowdown. The average new condo apartment in the GTA sold for $1,028,782, while single-family homes averaged $1,462,342 — down 8.5 per cent over the past year.
BILD represents more than 1,000 companies in the home building, land development and renovation sectors in the GTA. The industry supports 256,000 jobs and contributes $39.3 billion in investment value to the regional economy.