Do Speculators Rule Toronto's Highrise Condos?
An effort to get more information about the influence of some speculators in Toronto’s condo market has collapsed after developers refused to take part, leaving policy makers in the dark. Urbanation Inc., a data-research firm, has pulled the plug on a survey that it had tried to conduct, with the support of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., to quantify how many “assignments” are taking place in the market.
An assignment is when a buyer who has bought a condo in a building that’s not yet finished, or registered, assigns their right to buy the unit to someone else.
Urbanation officially called off the study Tuesday, after the vast majority of developers who were asked for information did not give it. The study could have shed light on an aspect of the condo market that economists and policy makers have been worried about, as they have sought to get a handle on just how overheated the market might be and what risks it might pose to home buyers and the greater economy.
“There aren’t any good numbers on the amount of properties being used for investment purposes,” said Toronto-Dominion Bank chief economist Craig Alexander. “It’s very hard to assess risk in the market when you don’t have insight on that.”
Data on Condo Speculators:
An assignment is when a buyer who has bought a condo in a building that’s not yet finished, or registered, assigns their right to buy the unit to someone else.
Urbanation officially called off the study Tuesday, after the vast majority of developers who were asked for information did not give it. The study could have shed light on an aspect of the condo market that economists and policy makers have been worried about, as they have sought to get a handle on just how overheated the market might be and what risks it might pose to home buyers and the greater economy.
“There aren’t any good numbers on the amount of properties being used for investment purposes,” said Toronto-Dominion Bank chief economist Craig Alexander. “It’s very hard to assess risk in the market when you don’t have insight on that.”
Data on Condo Speculators:
No comments:
Post a Comment