Condo News—July 2025
More than 2,000 condos sitting empty in Metro Vancouver amid housing crisis
Global News
By Amy Judd & Alissa Thibault
Posted May 19, 2025
A report published last month states that more than 2,000 new condos in Metro Vancouver are sitting unsold and empty.
The report found that the number is predicted to rise to nearly 3,500 condos by the end of the year.
“Condo listings are probably the highest we’ve seen them in years,” Realtor Adil Dinani said.
“Sixteen thousand listings overall in the Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board. It’s the first time in 10 years.”
In addition, pre-sales are so low that it is forcing some developers to rethink current projects.
The CBC published a similar article on 27 June 2025. That the condo markets in Vancouver and in the GTA are seeing drops in sales and prices was not unexpected. What is amazing is that the prices went up so high for so long.
Unless you bought at the peak and need to sell now, there is little to worry about. We went through this once before.
In the mid-1990’s, condo prices in the GTA dropped by a third. It took ten years for the prices to recover. Then prices went up and up and up. That didn’t stop until lately.
Absolute worst case? You may need to wait ten years for prices to fully recover and to start rising to new limits.
Toronto condo residents endure sweltering heat as air conditioning system breaks down
CTV's Allison Hurst reports.
Video. https://www.ctvnews.ca/toronto/video/2025/06/24/toronto-condo-residents-endure-sweltering-heat-as-air-conditioning-system-breaks-down/
For residents of one Toronto condo complex, a break from the heat can't come soon enough. Their air conditioning system broke down just as the heat wave hit.
The two worse things that can happen in a condo apartment are when the elevators are out of service and when the fan coils break down.
Not much you can do when the elevators, (or escalators) are out of service unless you can rent a llama. However, there are ways of coping with a lack of central cooling.
Keep your blinds closed during the day time. Take cold showers or baths. However, it may be best to buy a modern portable air conditioner. It will keep a bedroom cool.
Locks
In Ontario, and I suspect everywhere in North America, the owners do not own the door to their unit. It is a common element. The owner is given a key to a lock they do not own.
The condo boards should make it clear that no one is allowed to put on a second lock or to change the existing lock on the unit doors. If they want the lock changed, the board, or manager, can arrange to have a different cylinder installed and they will give the owner a new key(s).
That way, one master key can open all residential doors. This rule is strictly enforced in higher-end condos. An owner is free to put in their own burglar alarm system inside their unit.
Every unit having different locks and multiple locks happens because right from the start, standards were not maintained.
This is important when there is an emergency such as a flood, a fire or a medical emergency and entry is required by the superintendent or fire department. Otherwise, the superintendent needs to have dozens of different keys, a different one for each unit.
Most condos have let the residents change the locks, or add new locks, over the years and key control has been neglected.
If a door needs to be broken in order to enter the unit, and the superintendent doesn’t have a key, the owner is responsible to repair the door. Door repairs are not cheap.
If regular service is required in the units, such as fan coil maintenance or the annual fire system inspections, proper notice is delivered to all the residents. If the residents are not home, and the superintendent does not have a key, the required service cannot be done. The manager will then arrange a different date with the owner for mandatory services to be completed. The unit owner will then be responsible to pay the extra costs for the contractor to return to the building to do the required work.
If the superintendent has not been given a key to a unit and a resident loses their key and needs to enter their unit, the resident has to hire a locksmith to open the door. The condo corporation does not pay. (See the email I received below.)
Surveillance cameras
Small and inexpensive video cameras that monitor activity within a condo unit are becoming more popular. They can be very useful when no one is home.
I worked at one high-end condo where the owners of one unit were on vacation. When a parcel arrived for them, the property manager phoned the owner to see what she wanted done with the parcel. The woman asked that the valet leave it inside her unit door.
The valet entered the unit, dropped off the parcel by the door and then went into the kitchen. He made himself a sandwich and helped himself to a can of beer.
As he was enjoying his lunch, the woman phoned the property manager. She wanted to know why the valet was making himself at home in her apartment. She was watching and hearing everything on her smartphone.
Oops. Upstairs goes the manager where she catches the valet in the act.
Another time, a security guard was accompanying two technicians that were entering all the units to service the heat pumps. This time an absent owner phoned the manager to complain that the security guard was reading the materials that he left open on his desk.
Were they fired? Maybe, maybe not. The security company said they were fired but they may have just been transferred to another location.
I like the Ring video cameras. They have battery powered units that are quite small and they record both video and audio. If they detect motion, they will send an alert straight to your smartphone. Ring retains the videos for weeks or even months and the files can be copied onto your computer.
A 10-cent Donald Trump
My condo president had a grudge against the landscaping-snow removal company. For what, I can’t remember.
Without consulting with the other board members, he instructed the property manager to stop the company’s monthly payments. The other board members and the owners were kept in the dark.
That fall, I noticed that the landscaping was not up to snuff. Then, during the winter months, the snow plowing was barely adequate. I was wondering what was going on. I knew that our condo was paying on the low-end for this work but the company’s service had noticeably deteriorated.
I asked the manager what was going on. She said that the company had not been paid for months but they were not going to break the contract. Instead, they were going to sue the condo corporation for breach of contract.
I raised hell with the other board members and had the manager pay the arrears. Service immediately improved. The president was not re-elected.
Email from a reader
What are your thoughts on the CMRAO?
So far, from what I have learned from owners who have lodged complaints, they have all been turned down.
One owner indicated that they believe the property management might be paying them off the books.
There was a situation involving a senior citizen who had been living here for 20 years, without a cell phone, computer, or any technological devices, no car and unable to drive. She became locked out of her apartment after losing her keys. The property manager would not provide assistance as she had no identification on her. If I remember correctly, she was in her house coat.
I lack all the necessary details; however, she submitted a complaint to the CMRAO and ultimately lost.
However, when she contacted CMRAO prior to submitting a complaint, the officer informed her that the property management should have requested her emergency contact, a security question, an email address, a neighbor to verify her identity, and should have also escorted her with a security guard to her unit to retrieve her ID.
No such action was taken; two owners took her in as she was dehydrated and hungry, providing her with assistance.
One owner later discovered that had they called the police, that senior citizen would not have had to endure this ordeal. The police would have compelled the property manager to allow her entry.
First of all, I am confident that the employees of the Condominium Management Regulatory Authority of Ontario (CMRAO) are not taking bribes from property management companies. If a complaint was denied it is probably because of good cause.
However, in this case, I do not think that the manager acted wisely. He, or she, could have done more. I would have:
• asked the superintendent to identify the resident. (Be weird if he didn’t know her.)
• ask a neighbour to identify the resident.
• ask the board members if they could identify the resident.
If that didn’t work, and the woman seemed credible, I would ask the superintendent to accompany the woman and myself to go up to the unit and have him open the apartment door. If there was photo identification in the unit that proved that she lived there, all is good.
If none of that worked, I would have phoned my property management head office and asked for advice.
