New home sales in Toronto dropped 69% in January to a 17-year low, an industry group said Friday.

The Building Industry and Land Development Association said 599 new homes and condominiums were sold across the GTA this January, down sharply from the same month a year ago, and continuing the decline in the last quarter of 2008.

The GTA has seen January sales fall below 599 only once since records began in 1981, the association said. In January, 1992, 513 units sold.

"The very slow start to the New Year did not come as a

surprise, given the obvious trend-line and the macro-economic forces at play," said Stephen Dupuis, BILD president and chief executive, "but that doesn't mean we're not concerned about it."

Mr. Dupuis said he was cautiously optimistic that massive stimulus spending here and in the United States and low interest rates would boost the spring housing market.