A report from Insauga in Canada. "With more condos being listed and prices dipping month-over-month, should condo owners in Mississauga be worried? 'Condos are selling for under-asking, but the overinflated market we had is correcting so we can have stability over the long term,' said Nik Oberoi, a Mississauga-based sales representative with Cloud Realty. 'This isn't the exponential growth we've been seeing. I'm relatively happy to see this because an 800 square foot condo shouldn't be selling for the same amount as a three-bedroom townhouse. This is bringing condos back to what fair market value should be.'"

"'The number of new listings continues to go up, and the number of sales continues to go down,' says Oberoi, adding that the decline in condo sales also has a lot to do with former Airbnb units hitting the market. Oberoi says the condo market, particularly in Toronto, has taken a more pronounced hit and that people never prepared for any price correction in the GTA market."

"'It's inevitable,' he says. 'People have been oblivious to the risks involved in real estate. There's a misconception of what return on investment they'll get because of the past few years. If you are going to enjoy the perks of the extremely high market, you have to accept this part of the investment.'"

"Kim Kubath, a broker with Keller Williams Realty, agrees that a correction in condo units is inevitable. 'I don't think [the condo market] will crash, but I do think there will be a correction due to the increased inventory in the rental market and [influx of] Airbnb units. Those investors may not be able to afford to carry their units long-term and will likely sell,' she says. 'As people move out of the city due to COVID or working from home, more condos will hit the market, and more supply and less demand will cause a correction in prices.'"

From Toronto Storeys. "Average rents in urban centres continue to decline in major cities across the country, including here in Toronto. According to Rentals.ca’s and Bullpen Research & Consulting’s latest National Rent Report, which compares rents in 35 Canadian cities, rents for one- and two-bedroom apartments and condominium rentals continue their downward trend year over year, while the average rent for all Canadian properties has remained the same the last four months. The September average monthly rate is down 9.5% annually."

"What’s more, in Toronto, single-family rental rates are also down, falling 20% year-over-year in the third quarter, while condo rents are down 16% annually. 'Toronto is seeing the biggest decline in rental and condo apartment rental rates on average among major municipalities in Canada; this is driven by the rapid decline in downtown condo rents, with many recently completed buildings seeing rates drop by 10% to 15% annually,' said Ben Myers, president of Bullpen Research & Consulting. 'Several of the condos experienced listings growth of 100% to 200% annually — a textbook example of what happens with less demand and more supply.'"

From Blog TO. "A global pandemic may be all it took to pop one historically-lucrative segment of Toronto's housing bubble… or at least deflate it slightly. Condominium apartment prices appear to be falling in the City of Toronto at a consistent rate for the first time in years. Dr_Silberschmelzer: 'The #condo market is mass. Active listings are running 200% above last year’s levels. As a result, average prices are dropping about $10,000 per month with #rents tumbling even faster.'"

The Financial Post. "For four months, Christopher Bibby anguished over how to sell a 435-square-foot condo in Toronto’s entertainment district. The unit, which was listed in March at $569,999, wasn’t visited once in its first two months on the market. There were no calls and no emails. 'Those were dead months,' he said."

"Bibby already thought he was giving buyers a bit of a break. He had sold a condo of the same size, with the same floor plan and in the same building for $580,000 in February. But that was before COVID-19 upended Toronto’s condo market. After two months, Bibby trimmed the price even further to $529,999 and, coupled with loosening lockdown restrictions, that generated enough interest to do a showing every 10 days. Still, there were no offers."

"It wasn’t until mid-June that Bibby and the unit’s owner were able to finally fill the unit — after putting it up for rent at a below-market rate. Bibby’s experience is representative of a wider trend in Toronto, where it appears that these smaller units are weighing down the entire market."

"Pre-COVID-19, these condos were the hottest on the market. Investors flocked to them because they were the only form of housing under $500,000 available in Toronto and the high rents they could charge on these units meant that making profit was close to a sure thing. Most of them were snatched up on the pre-construction market and as investors became more emboldened by their returns, they bought more units, said Shaun Hildebrand, president of Urbanation."

"Now they’re the ones flooding the market with listings. In September, new listings for micro units were up 165 per cent year over year. Frank Polsinello, a broker of record at RE/MAX, has seen this sentiment play out in the digital ads he places on Facebook for micro condos. In the past, the comments would be lined with interested people tagging agents to see the property. Now, they’ve turned negative. 'What we’ve been seeing a lot is: ‘Why would I pay $600,000 for that 453-sq.-ft. closet?'"

"'We’ve had a few that we have taken off the market recently because there’s a glut,' Polsinello said. 'We’re constantly monitoring the inventory. If we see there are six, eight, 10, 12 of these things that are all identical, (buyers) have the pick of the litter and it’s going to keep driving the price down.'"

"Vanessa Jeffrey, the broker of record at RE/MAX’s Property Shop, said she recently secured a 475-sq.-ft. condo in downtown Toronto for a client with a $450,000 bully offer when similar units had recently sold for $510,000. Not only was their bid price accepted, but the owner agreed to her client’s conditions as well. 'We knew they weren’t getting showings,' Jeffrey said."

The MTL Blog. "Rents are falling in the country's three largest cities, according to a recent report from PadMapper, an apartment rental and lifestyle website. The biggest drops were in Toronto and Vancouver but rents also fell in Montreal, though it's always been cheaper to live here anyway. In our city, median one and two-bedroom rents were down 6.7% and 2.8%, to $1,400 and $1,750, respectively, since the same time last year, the September report says."

"Toronto and Vancouver, the two most expensive places in Canada, experienced 'record dips in prices' — 14% in the case of a two-bedroom apartment in Vancouver, states the report."