Economist Benjamin Tal and co-author Shaun Hildebrand of Urbanation calculated that Toronto condo investors who closed on units in 2023 experienced negative cash flow of $597 per month, more than two times greater than in 2022. Rents increased eight per cent amid demand from surging immigration, but ownership costs surged 21 per cent, the report said. (The Logic)

Talking point: “The math doesn’t make economic sense from both the demand side (investors) and the supply side (developers), leaving the market at a standstill,” Tal and Hildebrand wrote. Prices on pre-sale units are too high to attract investors, especially as earlier condo investors bail on their money-losing investments and put their units up for sale. At the same time, developers are stuck because fixed construction costs and municipal development fees are too high. The result: an effective freeze on new construction at a moment when Toronto—along with the rest of the country—is desperate for new housing amid record population growth.