Bubble trouble: the Toronto condo boom may (or may not) soon go bust

Is the Toronto condo market in a bubble? Who knows! Yesterday, the Bank of Canada warned that the condo boom is about to get seriously less boomy (apparently, “the supply of completed but unoccupied condominiums is elevated, which suggests a heightened risk of a correction in this market”). Sure, that may sound gloomy, but some indicators of the market’s health aren’t even tracked. For instance, although rumour has it that foreign investors are buying all the condos they can, according to the Globe and Mail, Canada doesn’t track foreign investment in its real estate market. Meanwhile, National Bank analyst Stefane Marion believes a recession is the real threat to the housing market, and Urbanation predicts 2011 will actually be a record year for Toronto condo sales. If you’re not sure what to think, don’t worry: we’re pretty sure nobody really knows (not even The Economist). Read the entire story [Globe and Mail] »

(Images: Toronto skyline, Seekdes (Mike in TO); bubble, Rhett Maxwell)