This week, we’re looking at the cancellation of condo developers‘ preconstruction projects due to low demand in some Canadian markets. Plus, the Canadians waiting until their 40s to buy their first home, and one property worth a look.

Sales in Toronto’s preconstruction market slid to their lowest level in three decades this quarter, and the lack of buyers is leading some developers to delay or cancel new planned projects. As Rachelle Younglai writes, there were 502 sales of new condos in the Toronto and Hamilton area in the quarter that ended June 30, according to a report released Tuesday by industry research firm Urbanation Inc. That was down 10 per cent from the first quarter of this year and marked the lowest activity since 1993. “The market has gone from bad to terrible,” Urbanation president Shaun Hildebrand said.

“If you have the resources, it is a good time to buy resale (homes that have already been built) because there is very little competition in today’s depressed market,” Younglai said. But added that preconstruction could still be a good option if you’re able to wait a few years to move in.

Meanwhile, Metro Vancouver is feeling the same sting, as buyers walk away from presale purchases, lenders increasingly foreclose on a wider variety of properties, and inventory of unsold units continues to rise. As Kerry Gold writes, struggling developers are doing their best to keep their names out of the headlines, which means they are reluctant to sue when a presale buyer of a luxury condo walks away from their deposit.

Canadians in their 20s and early 30s are shunning traditional paths to adulthood, instead focusing on travel, education and career growth – and saving buying a home for later in their lives. Hindered by expensive housing, a growing number of Canadians are buying their first home later in life – into their 40s and beyond, a time traditionally used to save for retirement.

As Zahra Khozema writes, a big part of what’s driving this trend is the relentless rise in home prices. According to the Canadian Real Estate Association, the average home now costs under $700,000 – nearly quadruple what Statistics Canada listed in 2000. Meanwhile, in the same time period, annual individual income saw a relatively modest increase of $10,000, up to $59,400. Even with a recent dip, home prices remain far above historical levels, having peaked at more than $800,000 in 2022. Read some of these new homebuyers’ stories here.

Rates shown are the lowest available for each term/type and category (insured versus uninsured) as of market close on Thursday, July 17.

On June 25, Toronto city council voted to modify its planning bylaws to allow multiplex buildings with five or six units in parts of downtown and one ward in Scarborough, while stopping short of allowing them in the whole city. But, as Shane Dingman writes, the updated bylaw also established a new formula for the number of bedrooms allowed in any ‘plex’ application – with the exception of the duplex, all other sizes can only have a maximum of three times the number of units in the building.

Toronto Councillor Shelley Carroll was a key proponent of the bedroom cap during the city hall debate, saying on the council floor that a 2023 citywide rollout of fourplexes “had not gone well.” She cited an application in her ward where she asserted a builder had attempted to build “30 bedrooms on one single family dwelling lot.” The city’s planning department had flagged five projects as possibly being “multi-tenant houses,” also known as rooming houses, which are regulated differently in the city.

The city later told The Globe that Councillor Carroll had misspoken – the application she meant was a lot split with laneway suites that added up to 24 bedrooms.

“The implication of the cap is there is rampant explosive bedroom growth in Toronto that must be contained, while their own data shows barely two per cent went ‘above’ the cap they defined after the fact,” Dingman told me. “The second presumption is more bedrooms is a problem but what are we talking about? More places to live? Does anyone think we have too many places to rent in this city?”