Skyrocketing home inventory and a scarcity of buyers in Ontario have led many homeowners to offload their properties at alarming losses, a trend that only seems to grow more severe amid what the Canadian Real Estate Association calls a "holding pattern." 

Some sellers have been able to circle indefinitely in this figurative holding pattern, but others are running out of fuel to sustain their investments and flipping their properties at six-figure losses. 

These below-asking sales have become so severe that, in one recent case, a home in the province was sold at an unheard-of loss of $900K — a deficit greater than the value of many homes in the region.

And now, two more homes have been added to this growing list of properties sold at a significant loss, both selling in the vicinity of $350K below the asking price.

📢 "West-End wipeout" 🌪️

📍Mississauga & Milton, ON 🇨🇦

The massive losses continue to roll in with two properties in West GTA sold a few days ago losing $532K and $350K respectively. 💸

One house, a Milton detached, was bought in 2022; the owner sunk $200K in renovations only… pic.twitter.com/4WV6b2hW9F

— Shazi (@ShaziGoalie) September 18, 2024

A four-bedroom, four-bathroom subdivision house at 60 McCandless Crt. in Milton recently sold for $1.3 million, a $352K plunge from the $1.652 million price it was purchased for just two years earlier in September 2022.

Making matters much worse, the homeowner sunk $200K in renovation costs into the house, for a combined loss of $522K.

Another home recently sold at a massive loss was 97 Wanita Road, a detached house in Mississauga's Port Credit area. The small house was sold back in November 2021 for $2 million and was later leased out as a rental the following year for $3,100 per month.

Despite the apparent value of the lot when first purchased, the home was placed back on the market this past May at just under $1.8 million, and its owners were already willing to eat a $200K loss to offload the house at the time of listing.

Ultimately, they would have been lucky to get that figure, as the home would finally sell for $1.65 million on September 15, for a staggering loss of $350K within three years of purchase.

These houses represent just the latest Ontario homes to sell well below their original prices this year, including a four-bedroom home in London that was sold at a loss of $650K following four attempts to sell, as well as a custom-built home in Oshawa that sold at an $800K loss.

While these losses are bad news for homeowners, they also serve as a possible light at the end of the tunnel for the large share of Ontario residents currently priced out of the real estate market.

The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) noted declining home sales and prices in August, with TRREB President Jennifer Pearce predicting that "The Bank of Canada's rate cut announced on September 4 will lead to a further improvement in affordability, especially for those using variable rate mortgages."

"First-time buyers are especially sensitive to changes in borrowing costs. As mortgage rates continue to trend lower this year and next, we should experience an uptick in first-time buying activity, including in the condo market," said Pearce.