A report from the Globe and Mail on Canada. "Market reports about the Greater Toronto real estate market often focus on whether buyers are on the sidelines or if sellers are biding their time as the region grinds through a generally slow period. Rarely does anyone mention the financial trouble that a lack of sales causes for the 52,000 realtors who are members of the Toronto Real Estate Board."

"Sharon Soltanian worries about the realtors. Her independent brokerage, Soltanian Real Estate Inc., focuses mainly on the old city of North York. But, since peaking in 2016, Willowdale and the neighbouring Newtonbrook area have seen some of the sharpest declines in sales in Toronto, and she has seen agents who once had a decent living drop out of the business, go homeless, put their cars on lease-breaking websites and turn to side-hustles such as driving for Lyft or running an Airbnb."

"'I know for a fact, in our small brokerage, a few of our agents – and outside a lot more – they did not pay their taxes, their HST. They have huge problems with CRA because they don’t have income,' Ms. Soltanian said. 'Before … they had $20,000 income [a month], now they have $2,000 and they don’t know who to pay first.'"

"'I know in the public eye, real estate agents are ruthless, heartless, all they want is to make money,' she said. 'The reality is, the majority of these people are educated people, immigrants. … I have Phd-from-Harvard agents. I had a dermatologist that cannot work here as a doctor. These are normal people, they become agents, it was easy a few years ago for them, but now it’s very difficult. I was talking to a few of the big brokerages in the area, and they are all saying the same thing: In this area, income is down maybe 50 to 70 per cent.'"

"Statistics from TREB help show how quickly the area fell. In 2016, the Willowdale East submarket sold more detached houses than anywhere in Toronto with 295. In 2018, only 86 houses sold in that market – a 71-per-cent drop. For realtors, that amounts to 200 fewer commissions to share, and average sale prices fell to $2.3-million from $2.6-million. Several other submarkets in the area had similar crashes: Willowdale West sales are down 52 per cent, Newtonbrook East sales are down 59 per cent."

"'The places that went crazier on the way up are the places that are crashing harder on the way down. Perhaps another way to look at it is that these areas became the most detached from value fundamentals,' said Scott Ingram, a sales representative with Century 21 Regal Realty Inc."

"In the meantime, struggling agents who are not dropping out of the business are finding ways to cut costs, leaving full service brokerages for lower-fee or discount brokerages that cost them less overhead, or trying to find ways to raise cash on the side."

"'Some are driving Uber because they can’t make ends meet. They are doing all sorts of alternative things to make some money,' said Anita Soltanian, Sharon’s daughter and partner in their brokerage. She has colleagues in the industry who have put their leased luxury cars on Leasbusters.com, which indeed is packed with recent model BMW’s and Mercedes. But some who can’t get out of leases have embraced Turo, a 'sharing economy' app that lets 200,000 car-owners rent out their car for as little as $10 a day, like a mini-Enterprise or Budget rental."

"And according to the younger Ms. Soltanian, it’s not just Willowdale that’s feeling the heat. 'I know people downtown, in the condo market, they are suffering too. When the market slows you feel the ripples,' she said."

From CTV Vancouver. "A landmark Vancouver condo tower that won architecture awards before construction even began is nearing completion -- and that's actually bad news for investors hoping to flip their units before the building opens and get out with a tidy profit."

"The 407 condos at Vancouver House sold out quickly when they went on sale in 2014, with many selling for several million dollars. Some units have been resold since then in a process known as assignment sales. As of Monday, 31 units in the building were listed for assignment sale, with many of those owners likely to have only made a down payment so far."

"Construction is expected to wrap up in the next 60 to 90 days and that means anyone who hasn't managed to resell their unit already has to settle their bill with developer, Westbank Corp. If the buyers are unable to secure financing and are forced to walk away from the deals they signed, they will forfeit their deposits."

"But realtor Vince D'Ovidio says that's unlikely, in part because even in this slumping market, real estate is still worth more than it was in 2014. 'The minute they close, where they own the suite, and there's no restrictions, they're putting it back on the market," said D'Ovidio when asked what investors were likely to do. 'Take what profit is left and then move on.'"