Forget bidding wars—distressed listings are Toronto real estate’s hottest trend. Power of Sale listings have surged more than five-fold in three years, according to data from Valery Real Estate. A record volume of distressed sellers are flooding record inventory, shredding the narrative of a quick recovery. It’s a brutal reminder that real estate corrections are measured in years, not months.
The Power of Sale Compels You… To Sell Your Distressed Property
Today we’re looking at Power of Sale listings on TRREB, mostly across Greater Toronto and the Golden Horseshoe. The term is often confused with foreclosure, but the two work very differently in Canada.
Foreclosure means the lender goes to court, takes ownership of the property, and decides how and when to sell. Once the title is transferred, the borrower’s debt is extinguished—but so is any claim to surplus cash if the sale exceeds the mortgage balance. This process is common in the US, but rarely used in Canada.
Power of Sale is faster, cheaper, more discreet—and can be more painful for borrowers. The borrower stays on title until closing, but the lender controls the sale. If the home sells for more than what’s owed, the borrower gets the surplus. If it sells for less, the borrower still owes the shortfall, and the lender can chase it in court. This shortcut makes Power of Sale Canada’s weapon of choice—and one that would’ve had America’s 2008 predatory lenders drooling.
Now that we’re all up to speed on today’s bankster terminology, let’s discuss today’s data. The Power of Sale listings we’re tracking are those where the agent disclosed the status, using Valery data. That makes this a conservative count—disclosure isn’t required and usually doesn’t happen. It only appears when a lender is comfortable and an agent thinks it helps with marketing. In reality, the volume is almost certainly higher, and the growing trend is most likely even stronger.
Toronto Real Estate’s Hottest New Trend: Distressed Sales
Greater Toronto real estate: New Power of Sale listings per month.
Source: Valery Real Estate; TRREB; Better Dwelling.
Greater Toronto’s distressed listings are surging. August saw 149 new Power of Sale listings—up 30% from last year and more than six times higher than 2022.
Overall inventory also climbed, but not as fast. Power of Sale listings made up 1.1% of new listings in August 2025, growing 22% faster than total inventory year-over-year. Since 2022, distressed listings have expanded nearly five times faster than non-distressed supply.
Toronto Real Estate Sets Annual Record For Distressed Listings—It’s Only September
Greater Toronto real estate: New Power of Sale listings per year.
* YTD as of September 19, 2025.
Source: Valery Real Estate; TRREB; Better Dwelling.
The surge isn’t just monthly noise—it’s reflected in the annual data too. In 2024, there were just under 1,200 new Power of Sale listings, more than double 2023 (+109%). Compared to 2022, volumes are up more than five-fold (+543%), meaning the August spike actually understates the trend.
There are still a few months in 2025, but it’s already set a new record high. From January to August, there were 1,106 new listings—up 52% from the same period in 2024. Including September’s partial data, 2025 has already hit 1,232 new Power of Sale listings, surpassing all of 2024. Congrats, we did it! Shoutout to weak math skills and predatory lenders—it wouldn’t be possible without y’all.
Toronto Real Estate Is Even More Distressed Than You Think
The true number of Power of Sale listings is almost certainly higher than what’s shown above. We only counted listings where the agent disclosed the status. The data we aren’t seeing is an even bigger red flag than the data we found.
We analyzed 3,195 unique Power of Sale listings—we know, we need more interesting hobbies. Out of that, just 9 named a Big Six bank as the seller, and none were tied to reverse mortgage lenders. Yet the Big Six banks represent the majority of mortgage lending, and five of them reported arrears rates above the chartered bank average. These banks also happen to carry outsized exposure to Greater Toronto’s negative-cash-flow condo speculords.
Losses look slim on paper partly because banks are quick to pursue remedies—such as, drumroll, Power of Sale. RBC alone posted a Greater Toronto arrears rate of 0.42%, and while it doesn’t disclose how often it uses this tool, it’s hard to believe the true figure is zero over the past three years.
Reverse mortgage lenders are also conspicuously absent. Canada’s largest reverse mortgage lender reported $93.2M in Stage III impaired loans in Q2 2025—an amount of late-stage delinquencies equal to the entire mortgage book of a mid-sized credit union. Conservative underwriting means losses, if any, are contained, but it’s hard to imagine every shortfall was avoided without resorting to even one Power of Sale.
This gap suggests the publicly available data understates true distress, keeping much of the pain off the MLS feeds. What we can confirm is clear: Power of Sale listings in Toronto are rising fast. That doesn’t point to a quick rebound or cheap-credit rescue, but a correction that will grind deeper than most realize.
Most importantly, that low foreclosure rate people take comfort in doesn’t mean what they think it does.
P.S. Valery Real Estate just rolled out a Power of Sale search filter. Oh hell, yeah.
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