High borrowing costs, record completions lead to condo oversupply Sep 12th

A report by TD economist Rishi Sondhi said sales activity hasn’t been absorbing supply fast enough, with July condo resales in the GTA down 25% from pre-pandemic levels.

Sondhi said the trend is tied to factors such as a wave of newly built condos hitting the market, elevated borrowing rates that have made it difficult for some buyers to close on their mortgages, and investors looking to sell properties as declining rents and negative cash flow make them unprofitable.

“The relatively elevated interest rate backdrop means that the gap between the rate of return from a condo in the GTA … and from a risk-free’ government bond has narrowed,” he said in the Sept. 5 report.

“This may have reduced the incentive to hold a condo as an investment, although the recent drop in yields could be helping to re-widen this spread…