A Mississauga condo sold at two drastically different price points in two years shows just how much real estate prices in the GTA tend to fluctuate year-over-year. 

The two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment, located at 80 Absolute Ave., is just across the street from Square One Shopping Centre, and comes with an extensive list of amenities including a basketball court, gym, spa, theatre and elevated running track. 

According to its listing, the apartment comes with a northeast-facing balcony view and an open-concept layout, as well as a primary bedroom with a four-piece suite. 

The apartment's sale history was recently featured in a post by @ShaziGoalie, who regularly shares notable happenings in Ontario's real estate market on X (formerly Twitter). 

"Condo Market Plummets 📉"

📍Mississauga, ON 🇨🇦

Sold in 1 Day During 2022 Peak

Now 33% Cheaper! 👇 pic.twitter.com/uXqXYBT1CR

— Shazi (@ShaziGoalie) May 20, 2024

The condo was first sold for $751,000 in April 2022, when an uptick in demand skyrocketed prices across the GTA. During this peak, prospective buyers flooded to the region's real estate market to take advantage of the cheaper borrowing rates. 

However, prices began to drop once again shortly after when the Bank of Canada started raising interest rates. 

Just two years later, the same condo apartment was listed for $549,000 and eventually sold below its asking price at $505,000 — representing a loss of nearly $250,000. 

Bet the condo fees have gone up, though!

— David (@David6179188752) May 20, 2024

The massive loss led some users on X to speculate if this was a power of sale scenario, which differs from a regular home sale and is a clause written into a mortgage note that authorizes the mortgagee to sell their property in the event of default to repay the mortgage debt. 

Does anyone know if that is a Power of Sale? That's a big loss.

— Donna Bacher (@loveurhome) May 20, 2024

In these cases, the lender forces a sale on the public market and gets all the funds owed to them, while the current owner keeps any excess profit. In a foreclosure, the lender usually takes ownership and gets to keep all the profits from the sale. 

Throughout 2024, the province's real estate market has already witnessed several cases of properties selling at significant losses. In March, a home in Burlington's LaSalle neighborhood was sold at a $700,000 loss after multiple failed attempts to sell. 

In another case, a four-bedroom home in Hamilton's Stoney Creek community sold at a staggering $500,000 loss after six failed attempts to sell. 

Ontario home sold at $500k loss after 5 failed attempts to sell https://t.co/ibtf1Np3Lz

— blogTO (@blogTO) April 23, 2024

According to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board's (TRREB) Market Watch report earlier this month, prospective home buyers in the region benefited from increased choice and little movement in the average selling price compared to April 2023. 

"Listings were up markedly in April in comparison to last year and last month. Many homeowners are anticipating an increase in demand for ownership housing as we move through the spring," said TRREB President Jennifer Pearce.

"While sales are expected to pick up, many would-be home buyers are likely waiting for the Bank of Canada to actually begin cutting its policy rate before purchasing a home," Pearce continued. 

"Generally speaking, buyers are benefitting from ample choice in the GTA resale market in April. As a result, there was little movement in selling prices compared to last year,"  TRREB Chief Market Analyst Jason Mercer added. 

"Looking forward, the expectation is that lower borrowing costs will prompt tighter market conditions in the months to come, which will result in renewed price growth, especially as we move into 2025."