Economic Crisis Putting Condo Projects at Risk

"[T]ighter liquidity means financing is getting pricier and harder to come by for many [condo developers], at the same time the housing market is cooling.

Lenders now want to see 70 per cent of condo units presold before providing funding, for example, up from about 60 per cent when the credit markets were looser. The amount banks are willing to lend compared with a property's value has also dropped after the collapse of the market for commercial mortgage-backed securities, which was once a major source of funding.

Experienced developers who have strong relationships with their lenders can still get project financing [while] others may be forced to seek out new funding sources, scale back their projects or put them on hold."