A report from Narcity in Canada. "Toronto's Regional Real Estate Board offered a glimpse into the housing market in April, and it's not all bad news. According to the report, Toronto housing prices actually dropped this month. Detached homes were hit the hardest and actually saw a 9.1% drop in prices. According to TRREB, Toronto saw a decrease of a whopping 69% in home sales compared to what last year’s average was at the time."

From Toronto Storeys. "The old saying, ‘what goes up must come down’ definitely rings true when it comes to Toronto’s current housing market. According to real estate agent Doug Vukasovic, prices in the freehold segment have dropped -8% last week, as a result of detached homes declining -9% and rowhomes at -17%. 'The declines in the number of homes sold seem to have tapered off in the past two weeks, establishing perhaps a new baseline of around -75% for freehold and -80% for condos versus the prior year,' says Vukasovic."

"Currently, the average price for detached homes in Toronto is $1.28 million; $1.13 million for semi-detached; $1.01 million for rowhomes; $657,000 for condo apartments, and $694,000 for condo townhouses, according to Vukasovic."

The Globe and Mail. "Real estate sales in the Toronto area are slowing to a trickle as sellers delay listing and some buyers try to wrangle a 'COVID discount' on deals they’ve already struck. John Lusink, president of Right at Home Realty Inc., says he’s still been busy in April, but much of the work involves closing transactions that have already been agreed to. 'That tap is slowly getting turned off,' Mr. Lusink says. 'It’s going to be a very dry May and June.'"

"Meanwhile, some buyers are turning to him for advice because they are suddenly finding their financing in peril just before they complete a transaction. The risk departments at financial institutions are scrutinizing many deals and the buyer’s financial stability, he says. 'The mortgage companies are continuing to ask very difficult questions.'"

"Carl Langschmidt of Property.ca Inc. says business has plunged more dramatically each week since mid-March. As a broker, Mr. Langschmidt says, he has signed lots of mutual releases as agreements fall apart. In some cases, buyers have a conditional offer accepted and then use that condition as leverage to get out of a deal."

"In another instance, he knows of a buyer who signed an agreement to purchase a condo unit preconstruction and is now walking away from his $5,000 deposit. The 10-day cooling off period had expired, Mr. Langschmidt says, but the buyer is gambling that the developer won’t pursue him in court. 'He’s just trying his luck.'"

"Agents will feel the greatest impact in May, June and July, Mr. Lusink says, because sales are so thin today. Part of his efforts now involve figuring out to what extent agents will qualify for programs such as Canada Emergency Response Benefit. As self-employed workers, agents are eligible, he says, but he’s not sure if the program will extend into the months when commissions dry up. 'We’ll also see some brokerages that, unfortunately, won’t be able to hang in.'"

From Global News. "Signs of trouble are already appearing in Metro Vancouver, which put up reasonably strong home sales in March that have since dropped off sharply — despite April traditionally being one of the hottest months of the year. 'I suspect you’ll probably see sales volumes for April down about 70 per cent from last year,' said Vancouver Realtor Steve Saretsky."

"The mortgage picture has also changed. The Bank of Canada has lowered its overnight lending rate, but banks have actually hiked rates on fixed-term mortgages. Vancouver mortgage broker Sherlock Yam said the hikes reflect what banks see as growing risk in the housing market. About 20 per cent of his clients are investors sitting on the sidelines, he said, waiting for homeowners to panic. 'They’re expecting that there will be a few defaults, and a few people that won’t be able to afford their mortgage payments after this pandemic and after that six-month deferral program,' said Yam."

The Financial Post. "From the outside, the roughly diamond-shaped Nexen tower is one of the more recognizable features of Calgary’s skyline. On the inside, it’s a barren landscape. All 37 floors are empty. In Canada’s energy capital, they’re suffering from a triple dose of misery: the pandemic, an oil crash and a severe hangover from a building spree. More than 20 per cent of office space is vacant, and one firm projects more than 33 per cent of downtown will be open by early 2021, creating a cycle of falling rents, declining values and 'a huge crater' in local government finances."

"It’s a cruel twist for a once-thriving city that has more corporate head offices than any other in Canada’s west, where downtown space was nearly impossible to get during last decade’s energy boom. The tight market then, and the oil market’s quick rebound from the 2008 financial crisis, spurred a wave of development that expanded downtown office space by millions of square feet."

"Now there’s an epic glut. Net asking rents — what the landlord receives — for high-quality office space have fallen to less than $15 (about US$10.60) per square foot, according to data from Altus Group Ltd. That’s less than half the cost in Vancouver and Toronto, two of North America’s tightest office markets, says Ray Wong, vice president of data operations at Altus."

"'There was the Calgary that everyone was used to: boom, bust, boom,' said Roelof Van Dijk, CoStar’s director of market analytics for Canada. 'Whereas now, it’s been bust for a long time.' His firm sees the city’s downtown office availability rate rising to 33.1 per cent by the first quarter of next year, exceeding vacancies in other energy-driven cities such as Houston and Dallas."

"'It’s going to hurt assessment values and the taxes that they’re paying on these properties. That creates a huge crater in city finances,' Van Dijk said."