Vast majority of Toronto-area new condo investors losing money every month: report

A new report says Canada’s largest condo market is facing its biggest test in decades as the number of investors losing money every month, and the amount they’re losing, has ballooned.

The report by CIBC and Urbanation says rising costs have left 82 per cent of new condo investors with a mortgage as cash flow negative in the first half of the year, up from 52 per cent in 2022.

The report showed that investors who closed on a condo in 2023 had negative monthly cash flow of $597, up from $223 per month in 2022, while in 2021 and 2020, investors were still on average making monthly profits.

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The report says higher interest costs, along completions on higher-priced condos, drove up ownership costs by 21 per cent last year, far ahead of the eight per cent rise in rents.

Authors Benjamin Tal and Shawn Hildebrant say the financial picture is dramatically slowing sales and condo completions, which will create a stagnation in housing stock in the coming years.

They say the pressures mean the Canadian housing market, and the Greater Toronto market in particular, are facing the most significant test since the 1991 recession.

5:57 2024 Canadian Real Estate Outlook