In 2021, Sudip Sehgall put down an $81,990 deposit on a yet-to-be-built townhouse in Surrey, B.C. While it was under construction, he occasionally visited the site to watch it grow.
The 52-year-old envisioned the deal taking him steps closer to owning his first Canadian home, but he only had enough for a deposit after a loan from his retired father.
Sehgall was relying on selling his home in New Delhi to get financing to close the deal. He began to worry when new regulations in India made his property less desirable. Then floods hit and selling became impossible.
Making matters worse, when he tried to find a buyer to take over the Canadian deal so he could get a refund, the developers opted to keep his deposit and sell the brand-new unit themselves.
Sehgall, who came to Canada in 2016 as a skilled worker, says he is now broke and back to renting, this time a cramped $1,700-a-month basement suite with his possessions lined up in suitcases against the walls. He lost his cheaper rental, thinking he was about to move into his new home.
“I may have to return back to India, and my Canadian dreams have been ruined and crashed,” he told CBC News.
Sehgall is part of a growing contingent of Canadians who are defaulting on deals to buy presale or preconstruction condos or homes due to financial pressures.
This trend of defaults is in part being driven by high interest rates and declining condo values, according to realtors. Many buyers lose their deposits, according to realtors and real estate lawyers across the country. While Sehgall’s circumstances are
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