http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/housing/toronto-new-condo-sales-see-worst-august-showing-in-a-decade/article14464065/

Toronto sold 633 condos during the month of August. That’s the lowest number the market has converted in a decade. Just two years ago, the same month yielded 1923 sales.

Jim Flaherty, the Finance Minster of Canada, expressed a concern for the Toronto real estate market when he felt that too many new condos were being built. This, Flaherty warns, might lead to a crash.

These worries remind me of a familiar Canadian city gone condo-crazy: Vancouver. With over one hundred new developments across the Metro Vancouver, we follow a pattern of behaviour not unlike Toronto. However, Vancouver was recently crowned- or I suppose dubiously awarded, depending on your stance- the second most expensive place to live in the world. While there are fewer pending developments in Vancouver, a potential adjustment in interest rates coupled with oversupply and high prices might prove just as deadly.

On the other hand, many have pointed towards foreign investment and immigration as major factors lending support to the health of Vancouver’s real estate market. Although they may be keeping the market afloat, their investments generally exert an upward pressure on the price of homes in Vancouver. While these investors might be helping Vancouver avoid a crash similar to the one Flaherty worries will happen to Toronto, the inflated price makes it difficult for first-time homebuyers to make their first investment.