Greater Toronto's new high-rise sales hit a record low

Builders sold 129 new high-rise units in the Greater Toronto Area in September, the lowest September on record, Storeys reported, citing the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) and Altus Group. That is down 40% from September 2025 and 90% below the 10-year average.

Low-rise did better: builders sold 820 new homes, 17% above the 10-year average.

Storeys reported that BILD and Altus point to the rules of the Ontario enhanced rebate as the main obstacle keeping high-rise from taking part as low-rise has. The rebate cuts the provincial part of the harmonized sales tax (HST) on builder-bought homes, but only if construction starts by December 31, 2028 and is substantially complete by December 31, 2031. BILD’s Justin Sherwood said the figures should be a wake-up call and urged rule changes so high-rise can better take part.

Builders presell units, meaning they sell them before building, and the Bank of Canada says banks have typically required about 70% presold before lending, so weak presales stall projects. Unsold high-rise inventory of 12,909 units equals roughly 49 months of supply: four years to sell at the past year’s average pace.

The rebate generally covers agreements signed between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027; whether the rules will change is not yet known.

Toronto’s inflation rate was 2.1% in September, up from 1.8% a year earlier. Ontario’s rose to 2.5% from 2.0%, and Canada’s to 3.1% from 2.4%. All are all-items rates, not seasonally adjusted; only Toronto’s covers the census metropolitan area.

Sources: Storeys · Canada Revenue Agency · Bank of Canada · Statistics Canada