Beechwood launch tops soft October sales

Minto led the charge in October, a month that was both up and down for new home sales.

While sales overall jumped 16.4 per cent compared to the month before (360 versus 301), when compared to October last year, they were down almost the same percentage, 18.4 per cent (360 versus 441), according to the latest monthly report by real estate analyst PMA Brethour Group.

Although the new home market continues to stay soft, Patrick Meeds, PMA’s managing director of the new home division, says there are positives in some of the factors that go into the monthly numbers.

Year over year, for example, sales of homes that were not condos are “significantly better,” he says. And the negative gap between monthly sales and the 10-year average continues to shrink.

But once you throw in condo sales, project launches by Minto in both October 2012 (Lansdowne and UpperWest) and this October (Beechwood) had a big effect.

Minto’s much-anticipated Beechwood condo project in New Edinburgh, which launched to the public Oct. 26, pulled in a whopping 41 sales of the 135 units available, vaulting the builder into a commanding top spot in sales for the month.

Generally battling a couple of the other big builders for largest market share and hovering around 20 to 25 per cent, Minto snagged 32 per cent of the market share in October. The next closest was Mattamy with 13 per cent.

“Typically, when you see a successful highrise launch, you will see that blip in overall sales,” says Brent Strachan, senior vicepresident of Minto Communities. “Beechwood was extremely successful for us in the launch.”

Another 22 units have since sold, some of them combined units, putting the project over half sold in less than a month, “which we’re very excited about, especially in today’s market.”

Meeds calls the Beechwood project “generally the most successful launch of a condo project in Ottawa since their launches last October of UpperWest and Lansdowne, both of which continue to sell extremely well.”

Overall, the numbers show sales for the year are slightly higher than last year, when the continuing sluggish economy, combined with tighter mortgage rules and threats of public service layoffs, caused a significant drop in home purchases.

“There were some noticeable singles sales (in October) for a few builder sites that were quiet for a few previous months,” says Meeds. “Perhaps (it’s) a hint of a return of a stronger market to come.”