A report from Bloomberg on Canada. "Active listings of condos in downtown Toronto hit a record at the end of September and were 215 per cent higher than a year earlier, according to Urbanation data. 'Demand is just not keeping up with new supply right now,' said Urbanation President Shaun Hildebrand. The decline in rents has been more dramatic, with the cost of leasing unfurnished units in the Greater Toronto Area down 11 per cent from a year earlier in September, according to Urbanation. That’s the biggest year-over-year decline on record."

"According to real estate professionals, the weakness is concentrated in the downtown core. A glut of units began to form after the pandemic halted immigration and people left the city center in search of more living space to work from home. At the same time, a flurry of new condo completions and a raft of Airbnb operators shifting to longer-term rentals has added to the inventory. In the core, average rents were down 14.5 per cent in the third quarter on average from the same period last year, Urbanation data show."

"Right now, some investors are dumping their units below market value just to sell immediately. Owners are dropping their prices by as much as $20,000 relative to comparable units to lure buyers, according to John Pasalis, founder of Realosophy, a Toronto brokerage. 'People are pricing units below what they would have gotten even two months ago,' he said."

From Simcoe. "Downtown Toronto condos are now renting within about $50 of other parts of the GTA, which could play into the potential of double-digit sales price declines in the core in the first quarter of next year, says Shaun Hildebrand, president of Urbanation."

"'Even if the price continued to remain at its September level right through into the first quarter of next year, when you looked at what the price level was compared to March 2020, you would be seeing an 11 per cent year over year decline,' said Hildebrand, who cited a large number of condo completions in the next six months, as well as a spike in listings."

The Globe and Mail. "Real estate agent Riley Boyko is witnessing the diverging fortunes in the Toronto condo market first-hand. Listings are rising and rents are falling, which means many condos are sitting on the market, Mr. Boyko says. 'If you’re an investor, you could pick up a condo for less than you would have paid in March, no question,' he says. 'But you will also rent it for less.'"

"Mr. Boyko recently listed a two-bedroom unit for sale at 125 Peter St. in the entertainment district. A similar unit sold for $900,000 in March but Mr. Boyko recommended that his clients set an asking price of $839,900. The owner was competing with approximately 200 neighbouring sellers. 'This is the situation now,' he tells sellers. 'You need to get ahead of where people’s heads were in March.'"

"Davelle Morrison, a real estate agent with Bosley Real Estate Ltd., is urging sellers in the condo market to be realistic. 'I’ve got clients asking, 'why do you want to price my condo so low?'"

"Ms. Morrison responds matter-of-factly that condo sales have slowed, and owners who want to attract attention have to set an asking price below what their competitors in the building are aiming for. Ms. Morrison recently had that conversation with the owners of a two-bedroom-plus-den unit with 1,300 square feet of living space on Simcoe Street, across from Roy Thomson Hall."

"A similar unit sold in the building for $857,000 in February. Her strategy was to set an asking price of $848,000 and accept offers any time. With five or six units in the building just sitting, she wanted to attract eyeballs with the price but not deter skittish buyers with the pressure of an offer deadline. The tactic worked because two offers came in the first day, she says, but that success only prompted the sellers to get cold feet. They worried that they underpriced the unit and should have held off for a bidding war. They hesitated to accept an offer of $888,000."

"Ms. Morrison advised them to seize the cash immediately because sellers typically obtain the best price the first day they arrive on the market. After that, buyers begin to use the number of days on market as ammunition. 'Every other day after this, the price is going to keep going lower and lower and lower,' she told them. 'You’re just never going to get this again.'"

"Ten days later she saw the sellers again as they prepared to make an offer on their next property. By that time, they were relieved they had taken the money: none of the other units in the building had sold."

From Global News. "Finding a place to rent in Kingston, Ont., has been a challenge for many years. The vacancy rate has been below two percent, making it one of the lowest in Canada. Over the last several months, for-rent signs have popped up around the downtown core, which has been an unusual sight for many. 'It’s possible that they’re (landlords) just trying to fill holes that have been created by this mess,' said Shawn Leclaire, a local landlord and president of the Kingston Rental Property Owners Association."

"'I have a couple of St. Lawrence landlord colleagues, and they’ve told me they’ve been playing musical chairs with which student is leaving next,' said Leclair. Because of this, landlords are now left paying the mortgage, maintenance fees and insurance on properties out of their own pocket. 'If they have persistent vacancy, that money has to come from somewhere, and that could cause a problem for new landlords,' said Leclaire."