Frenzied demand for property in Canadian city Waterloo

Toronto

IN a banquet hall in north Toronto, a condominium-sales event is generating the kind of frenzy more often seen on a trading-room floor.

Michael Wekerle, former Bay Street trader, technology investor, business reality-show judge and now real-estate mogul, steps up to a podium in front of about 1,600 people to make his pitch. Waterloo, an Ontario town that revolves around two universities and a burgeoning technology sector that's attracted companies such as Google Inc and dozens of startups, is booming, he says.

"It's a land grab," Mr Wekerle, 52, dressed in a lig…