Just less than 200 GTA condos sold in May as the HST rebate fails to reach the high-rise sector
New condominium apartment sales in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) fell to 89% below their 10-year average in May 2026, as Ontario's expanded Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) rebate continued to provide scant relief to the high-rise sector, according to data released by the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD).
Altus Group, BILD's official source for new home market intelligence, recorded just 193 new condominium units sold across the GTA in May. That's against a historical average of approximately 1,715 for the month.
Total new home sales reached 1,023, up from the record May 2025 low of 310, but still 57% below the 10-year average of 2,353.
The low-rise segment continued to outperform. Single-family home sales reached 830 units in May, surpassing the 10-year average by 26%, a trend that began after GTA low-rise sales first cleared the 10-year benchmark in April.
The rebate, widely described as a major win for new-home buyers across Ontario, has so far delivered far more to detached and townhouse purchasers than to those targeting condominium apartments.
Why condos aren't benefiting from the HST rebate
Edward Jegg, Research Manager at Altus Group in Toronto, cited two structural barriers. "Much of the existing product is locked into legacy pricing with higher costs; and any new high-rise projects are unlikely to be able to meet the 'substantially completed' requirement of the HST rebate program," he said.
Justin Sherwood, Chief Operating Officer at BILD, pointed to an additional constraint: the program's defined start and completion dates are too tight for most high-rise developments to satisfy.
Uncertainty over how rebates will actually be applied at the transaction level is also keeping buyers on the sidelines. "Providing clarity on these details will ensure that the momentum experienced since April continues," he said.
Brokers have been tracking that ambiguity closely. Micky Khaneka of MKG Mortgages in Toronto previously told Canadian Mortgage Professional that "on pre-construction, the HST can amount to a lot," a benefit that remains largely inaccessible to condo buyers until eligibility requirements are finalised and consistently applied.
Taz Zaide of 6ix Mortgage Group in Toronto highlights cautious buyer sentiment, rising lender downpayment requirements, and ongoing concerns about negative equity as investors and end users delay decisions amid uncertainty.https://t.co/a1X8RUDkac
— Canadian Mortgage Professional Magazine (@CMPmagazine) June 8, 2026
Price floor holds as inventory tightens
Benchmark pricing held firm in May. The benchmark price for new condominium apartments in the GTA remained at $1,029,489, what BILD described as an apparent price floor.
New single-family homes fetched $1,427,543, down 5.2% over the past 12 months. These are gross prices and do not reflect any rebate savings.
Total new home inventory fell to 18,763 units in May, dipping below 20,000 for the third time in 24 months, with 13,138 of those units in what earlier analysis identified as the GTA condo market's apparent cyclical bottom.
At current trailing sales rates, combined inventory represents 32 months' supply, a figure BILD expects to compress rapidly as volumes recover. Only one new condominium project has launched across the GTA in 2026.
Joanna Lang, managing partner at Outline Financial in Toronto, previously told CMP: "I think the mood in general is that clients feel the Toronto condo market is going to turn around. I'm not saying this year or next year."
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