New condo sales are reaching new lows in the Greater Toronto Hamilton Area, according to a new report that found 2024 was the slowest first half of the year for the new condo market since 1997.

The statistics from Urbanation showed the new condominium market reported 3,159 sales in the first and second quarter of 2024, a 57 per cent year-over-year decline and 72 per cent below the 10-year average. Just 1,688 sales were reported in the second quarter, down 66 per cent compared to the second quarter of 2023 and 70 per cent below the 20-year average.

The Toronto condo market has been in a slump, with developers putting projects on hold, excessive supply and a continued lack of demand from investors and first-time buyers alike. While 3,625 units launched for presale in the second quarter of 2024, only 17 per cent were sold. That’s an opening quarter absorption rate, referring to the rate at which available units are sold, that hasn’t been seen in over 25 years.

Unsold inventory has climbed to a record high as a result, hitting 25,893 units. That’s equal to 34 months of supply, which is three times higher than the balanced level of 10-12 months.

Despite the low sales and skyrocketing inventory, asking prices have barely budged; they declined 2.6 per cent over the past year and 4.5 per cent over the past two years to an average of $1,361 per square foot.

“This demonstrates how sticky new condominium prices have become due to high development and financing costs, and record prices paid for land at the market peak,” the report noted. 

Completions remained high, with the four-quarter total reaching 28,163 units in the second quarter of 2024, only slightly down from the completions of the four-quarter period ending in the first quarter of 2024. But the rest of 2024 won’t see such high levels — completions scheduled for the second half of 2024 are at 10,205 units, a 38 per cent decline from the first half. 

Construction starts, on the other hand, are seeing a sharp downturn: just 727 new condo units started construction in Q2 of 2024, a more than 20-year low. “[The decline] is directly tied to the slowdown in new condo sales,” the report stated.

Developer Brad Lamb previously told Streets of Toronto that the condo market will start to recover in late 2024, while the new condo market will be slower. “By the fall, it’ll be bubbling a little bit. And by the spring, I think you’re going to see a lot of developers launching stuff again,” he said.