Record number of condo projects are being scrapped in brutal Toronto market

GTA real estate has been setting numerous all-time records lately, but not the type we may be used to from the years that bidding wars and soaring prices defined the market.

In the last few months, the number of active resale real estate listings peaked to a new high of more than a bewildering 32,000, making for the largest disparity between supply and demand seen in the city as sales bottom out and units sit up for grabs for longer than ever.

It's pushed some homeowners to sell for far less than they'd wanted — or even what they bought for years ago — and even driven wealthy developers to take pause, cancelling forthcoming complexes that were due to generate tens of thousands of new homes, if they don't get put into receivership.

The latest stats on housing starts in the region are pretty dreadful, showing that the beleaguered condo segment has just hit a shocking 35-year low for new construction.

In a report released Thursday, the insiders at Urbanation Inc. cited only 319 new condo apartment sales across the GTHA in the third quarter of this year, which they say is the lowest quarterly total since this time in 1990.

They also have some worrying updates on the developments that have been put on hiatus as a result.

"With the new condo market on track to record its worst year for sales in three-and-a-half decades, project cancellations have soared," the firm writes.

"In Q3-2025, 10 projects with a total of 2,499 units were cancelled, bringing the year-to-date total to 18 projects and 4,040 units cancelled. This already surpasses the previous record high for cancellations in 2018, when 15 projects totalling 3,598 units cancelled."

The report adds that since the start of last year, a total of 32 projects and 6,981 units have been axed, "with an additional 20 projects totalling 4,187 units currently on hold for sales or in receivership with a high likelihood of cancellation in the near-term."

This news comes alongside shrinking prices — down 3.5 per cent from a year ago and 9.6 per cent from 2023 — and also a persistent sky-high proportion of unsold new builds.

"The removal of projects from the market and a lack of new launches resulted in a small reduction in unsold units. Total unsold new condo inventory across all stages of development decreased 2 per cent from last year's record high to 22,602 units in Q3," Urbanation's team writes, adding that "the condo market has clearly become depressed as it undergoes a difficult correction following excessive growth that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic."

Remaining hopeful, it states that "the lack of activity occurring today will surely lead to a lack of supply in a couple years, helping to restart the engine for the market."