The ‘heartbreaking’ crisis facing presale condo buyers is rumbling on
“A lot of times it’s just having empathy towards those clients,” Keselman said, “and trying to help them deal with the situation.”
Is the bottom in sight?
Few believe that the condo market is about to bounce back anytime soon, with no sign of a swift rebound for the sector. But Keselman believes the structural conditions for an eventual recovery are beginning to fall into place because developers are no longer committing to new condo projects in Toronto and Vancouver, which means there’s little chance of even more excess supply hitting the market.
“I think right now, there’s too much inventory, but it’s going to get absorbed,” he said. “There are ultimately a lot of the big developers on the West Coast just not starting new projects. So you’re going to have much less inventory as time passes by.”
That issue won’t resolve itself in a matter of days or weeks – but could work itself out within six to 12 months, Keselman said, as supply and demand gradually rebalance.
But until that happens, the human cost is continuing to mount. The wait for a market rebalance offers little comfort and borrowers and clients are left to navigate a situation that has little real precedent in recent Canadian mortgage history.
