5,000 unsold condos, 40% price drops, and a city going under | Ron Butler on Canada's housing crisis

Ron Butler has been one of the most data-forward voices on Canada's housing catastrophe. He runs Angry Mortgage, one of the most followed mortgage commentary platforms in the country, and he does not soften the numbers. In this segment he walks Jim Csek and Iain Burns through the full picture of where Canada's housing market actually stands right now, city by city, product by product, with the specific figures most media outlets are not putting together in one place. Topics covered: ► The Toronto pre-construction condo collapse: units that sold for $1,300 to $1,600 per square foot in 2021 now clearing at $745, representing 40 to 50% losses, with roughly 5,000 brand new units sitting unsold and vulture funds beginning to form to absorb distressed developer inventory ► The mechanics of the pre-construction trap: buyers who planned to flip through assignment and never close, who instead face developer litigation for seized deposits and liability for the difference when units sell lower, some of whom refinanced existing homes to fund those deposits ► The Kelowna developer receivership, confirmed live on air, as evidence that the crisis is not contained to Toronto and that BC is estimated to be roughly a year to a year and a half behind Ontario in the same deterioration ► Brampton named as the mortgage default capital of Canada: the highest mortgage delinquency rate among Canada's larger cities according to Equifax, at 0.6% in Q4 2025 compared to a national rate of 0.26%, up from just 0.06% in 2019 ► The student housing scheme that drove Brampton's crisis: residents cramming 18 to 24 international students into 3,500 square foot homes at $800 a month each, generating income that went to zero when the foreign student program was wound down, sending those properties into default and driving 40% price declines in affected neighbourhoods ► Brampton home prices that nearly doubled from $638,700 in 2019 to $1.24 million at the 2022 peak, before falling roughly 30% to $855,000 by March 2026, with certain higher-end detached segments down as much as 40% from peak ► The mortgage reset wave: approximately 1.3 million Canadian mortgages originated at rates as low as 1.69% five-year fixed now facing renewals at 4% or higher, with average payment increases of 18 to 25% cutting deeply into household discretionary spending across the entire economy ► The broader wealth destruction argument: most Canadians hold the majority of their wealth in their homes, and the scale of what is happening in Ontario and BC is not a contained problem for a small number of speculators This is the housing conversation Canadian media is not having with the people who actually know the numbers. Watch it in full. What do you think of the "vulture funds" coming in to buy up Canadian real estate? Let us know in the comments. The Really Big Show: the thinking Canadian's daily briefing, independent and informed. 🔴 Live every weekday at 9AM PST 📍 Independent. Unapologetic. Canadian. 👉 Support the show: https://thereallybigshow.ca Subscribe | Share | Comment — help us grow independent Canadian media. #canadiannews #canadapolitics #canada #nowmedia #thereallybigshow #canadianhousing #housingcrisis #brampton #torontorealestate #mortgagecrisis