Condo sales declined 59 per cent across the GTA in February as builders sold remaining inventory from last year and geared up to launch new projects for spring.

That saw the sale of new single-family homes outpace highrise sales for the second month in a row, according to figures from RealNet Canada Inc. released Tuesday by the Building Industry and Land Development Assoc.

The sales figures also show that the GTA new housing market “is easing back into stability” after last year’s record pace of sales, said RealNet.

“Following a slow period in late-2011, the lowrise sector has once again stabilized and we are seeing steady activity, particularly in the 905 markets,” said BILD Acting President Joe Vaccaro in a statement Tuesday.

“On the highrise side, while it may appear that sales are down from last year, it actually reflects the typical February lag as existing units are purchased while new condominium projects prepare to launch in the City of Toronto later this year.”

But pricing is another matter.

While condo prices increased just two per cent in February over the same month a year ago, new home buyers were faced with a 10 per cent increase in prices, largely because of the delays in building approvals by municipalities and government-imposed development charges, Vaccaro noted.

Just 913 condos were sold across the GTA in February, down from 2,226 a year earlier. That compares to 1,666 new low rise properties sold last month, up 16.2 per cent from the 1,434 homes sold in February, 2011.