met up with a former colleague last week, and she's buying a new build condo in a transitional area of town. It is hard to know if she realizes that she is likely getting squeezed in both directions (value of the condo dropping vs the agreed purchase price, mortgage rates increasing), or if she's just putting a brave face on things. I feel badly for her that she's ended up with this timing, she wasn't one of the folks who was greedy or overly optimistic, just a regular first time buyer.

On the plus side, she took her downpayment out of the market early last year, and her partner did at the end of the year, so it is only on two sides and not three that they'll be hit. But there are going to be so many stories like that.