TORONTO - There were more new homes sold in the Greater Toronto Area in April, 2009 than in any other month since the onset of the global economic crisis last Fall, the Building Industry and Land Development Association revealed yesterday.

According to RealNet Canada Inc., BILD's official source of new home market information, there were 1,880 new homes and condos sold in the GTA in April, compared with 1,485, or 876, 616, and 476 and units sold in the five months prior, respectively.

Expressing "pleasant surprise," BILD President and CEO Stephen Dupuis noted that while the trend line is improving, new home sales were still down 26 per cent compared with April, 2008, and the market remains extremely price-sensitive.

"Home builders have really sharpened their pencils to attract homebuyers and where the builder can add value, buyers are responding positively. On the other hand, any price increase where the buyer gets nothing in return, such as under the provincial government's proposed HST on new homes, will be seen-through and rejected by homebuyers, at the expense of construction jobs and related spin-off benefits," Dupuis noted.

Dupuis further commented that the low-rise (single-detached, semi-detached, town-homes) market has been much stronger than the high-rise condo market so far this year, reflecting a more nimble response by low-rise builders to changed market circumstances.