Spencer Group Inc., Realty Brokerage's blog

As the pandemic enters the third wave, Toronto’s downtown office vacancies have hit a 13-year high of 9.1 percent.
It shows that vacancies are up nearly two percent since the final quarter of 2020 with rents falling about a dollar to $34.88 per sq. ft. for Class A space in the same period.
It’s the highest office vacancy rate since 2008 when Toronto’s downtown hit 9.5 percent in the second quarter of the year.

If I told you I wanted $1 for something but you knew there was no way I was going to let you have it for less than $1.50, you might start to wonder why I had only asked for $1 in the first place.
Now imagine that situation playing out multiple times a day, for hundreds of potential buyers, on nearly every kind of low-rise real estate in the GTA.

https://storeys.com/toronto-real-estate-asking-price/

There are several changes happening on the real estate front.
One of many - mortgages interest rates.,
Canadian banks’ profit margins are expected to get a boost from an earlier-than-expected increase in mortgage rates but a sustained rise could dent home loan demand, which has been the only driver of lending growth during the coronavirus pandemic.

Are there any causes for concern?
Canada’s housing market is in a “huge bubble” after months of runaway price gains, according to economist David Rosenberg, who was bearish on U.S. real estate before it crashed nearly 15 years ago.

The idea that Canadian residential real estate prices are rising at an unsustainable pace is no longer just a subject for Twitter rants and COVID-era chats with family. The international media are paying attention.

TRREB Commercial Network Members reported 5,524,894 square feet of leased space through TRREB's MLS® System in Q4 2020 for all lease transaction types across the industrial, commercial/retail, and office market segments. This result represented a 10.8 percent decrease compared to Q4 2019.

This is crazy ... at least in my opinion ...
The Toronto area’s blazing market for detached and semi-detached houses, particularly in the suburbs, has continued into February, prompting the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board to warn that the already-hot pandemic market is poised to become more competitive as the year goes forward.

Despite early signs of overheating in Canada's housing market, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem so far has no plans to raise interest rates until the economy and employment are back on track following the slump caused by COVID-19.
Speaking remotely to the combined Calgary and Edmonton chambers of commerce on Tuesday, Canada's top central banker said that the economy would continue to need monetary stimulus, likely until 2023, even though there are already signs it could be distorting the residential real estate market.

Some examples of insanity:
On Olive Street in Oshawa where a 1,100-square-foot house was listed with an asking price of $650,000 and sold for $802,000 after five bullies submitted bids ahead of the date scheduled for reviewing offers.
The house last changed hands in 2018 for $200,000.
Another bungalow of about the same size was listed with an asking price of $499,000 and sold for $713,000 in Oshawa.
In the small town of Orono a little farther east, a house listed with an asking price of $499,000 sold for $731,000.
This cannot last forever...

The City of Toronto has decided to not increase the Municipal Land Transfer Tax (MLTT) and, instead, conduct a comprehensive study of all revenue tools and options for the City.
This comes after the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) raised concerns about the potential increase last week, ahead of the council’s final 2021 Budget meeting.