High-end of market continues to show strength: Sotheby’s

Luxury home owners worried about offloading their million-dollar properties can take heart from the figures in the new Sotheby’s report.

The controversial removal of Canada’s immigrant investor class program may have frightened a lot of homeowners, but a new report is showing that appetite and interest in the high-end of the market has remained relatively strong.
The Realtor says that sales of homes worth more than $1 million boomed in the first half of 2014 across all of the country’s major markets – Vancouver (up 34%), Toronto (up 34%), Calgary (up 17%) and Montreal (up 11%).
“Several factors are driving Canada's high-end real estate market in 2014: net migration into major urban markets, immigration of high net-worth individuals into cities like Toronto and Vancouver, significant transfer of wealth between generations and historically low interest rates,” said Ross McCredie, CEO of Sotheby's International Realty Canada.
“Heading into the second half of the year we expect Canada's high-end housing market to remain strong, especially in the single-family home category where inventory remains tight. We're also expecting to see renewed confidence in Montreal's real estate market given the recent change in the political climate,” he added.
Homeowners in Vancouver were particularly concerned about the impact of the cancellation of the program. However, according to the Sotheby’s report, the greatest sales gains were in the single-family home sector, posting a 38 per cent increase with a 37 per cent increase in condo sales.
written by:  Grainne Burns - Canadian Real Estate Wealth

Steven Porter, Broker, Buyer Rep. - REMAX Aboutowne Realty Corp.