This article misses a very prominent issue in Canadian housing, and more so, in the condo market - the use (read: abuse) of assignment clauses. Not only were investors buying preconstruction condos to rent out, they were also effectively buying a futures-contract on condos with the ability to sell the condo prior to completion. Often times, realtors themselves would hoard preconstruction condos and assign them to their own clients at a large profit...depending on the structure of the deposits required, seeing 50-100% return on capital was not uncommon and they did not need to qualify for a mortgage. This structure was doomed to fail; you often see now that many investors are unable to close (really, they never intended to close).
On the one hand, everyone says they want more floor space not less.
On the other hand, every city in North America America structures its land use policies around limiting total floor space.
Given this contradiction, it’s not surprising that some people feel forced to trade off floor space for the right to stay in the city.
The only way it’s going to be resolved is if planners let go of the idea that floor space is dangerous and must be tightly controlled, or if we invent TARDIS technology so that the insides of buildings can be larger than the outsides.
This article misses a very prominent issue in Canadian housing, and more so, in the condo market - the use (read: abuse) of assignment clauses. Not only were investors buying preconstruction condos to rent out, they were also effectively buying a futures-contract on condos with the ability to sell the condo prior to completion. Often times, realtors themselves would hoard preconstruction condos and assign them to their own clients at a large profit...depending on the structure of the deposits required, seeing 50-100% return on capital was not uncommon and they did not need to qualify for a mortgage. This structure was doomed to fail; you often see now that many investors are unable to close (really, they never intended to close).
On the one hand, everyone says they want more floor space not less.
On the other hand, every city in North America America structures its land use policies around limiting total floor space.
Given this contradiction, it’s not surprising that some people feel forced to trade off floor space for the right to stay in the city.
The only way it’s going to be resolved is if planners let go of the idea that floor space is dangerous and must be tightly controlled, or if we invent TARDIS technology so that the insides of buildings can be larger than the outsides.
https://archive.ph/2026.01.03-020529/https://www.bbc.com/new...