For many real estate buyers who lined up to sip a cocktail and purchase a condo unit at a high-profile launch party, the euphoria is a distant memory.
The sales centres have long since been torn down and the photorealistic images have been turned into real buildings.
The dilemma confronting many of those buyers now is that their units – in projects nearing completion – are not worth what they agreed to pay at the time.
Sahil Jaggi, broker with Re/Max Realtron Realty, recalls the heady days of project launches in Toronto in recent years. He believes many buyers are not sufficiently aware of the risks of buying a unit preconstruction.
“A lot of people who purchased at premium prices were overly optimistic when the market was doing well,” he says. “People are scared because the valuations have dropped. I see a lot of panicking happening.”