First quarter new condo sales in the Toronto region dropped to their lowest level since the 2009 financial crisis, with investors balking at lofty purchase prices and higher borrowing costs. See New condo sales in the Greater Toronto Area hit 15-year low:

“It is dead. I would never use words like this, but I am because it is true,” said Simeon Papailias, managing partner with real estate brokerage REC Canada, whose firm sells new condos, also known as preconstruction condos because they have not been built yet.

Mr. Papailias said the industry used to handle an average of 300 preconstruction sales a day. So far this year, there has been an average of 500 preconstruction sales per month.

As sales have plunged, new listings have leapt (chart below with YTD in blue versus other years since 2018). The 229 added last week was the third +200 week in a row—the most since August 2020.