Luxury Market Picks Up

After a slow start, demand for luxury homes is regaining momentum in most major centres.

Mississauga, ON (April 30, 2013) – Spring is in the air and nowhere is that more evident than in the country’s luxury housing market. After a subdued start in the first quarter, demand for upscale properties is once again on the rise.

Eight out of the 16 major residential housing markets examined posted sales on par or ahead of last year’s levels in the first three months of the year. Percentage increases were led by Calgary (50 per cent), Edmonton (41 per cent), Regina (10 per cent), Saskatoon (6 per cent), Winnipeg and London-St. Thomas (five per cent), followed by Quebec City at three per cent. Six markets posted new records for first quarter sales, including London-St. Thomas, Hamilton-Burlington (which matched the record 2012 pace), Quebec City, Regina, Saskatoon, Edmonton and Calgary. For the second consecutive year, Greater Toronto secured the top spot for the greatest number of upper-end sales in the first quarter.

“Luxury sales were slow out of the gate in 2013, but momentum is clearly starting to build,” says Gurinder Sandhu, Executive Vice President and Regional Director, RE/MAX Ontario-Atlantic Canada. “A growing number of purchasers are moving off the sidelines and into the market—even in centres that reported a dip in first-quarter sales. All the indicators are pointing to a traditional spring market poised for considerable growth.”

Report courtesy of RE/MAX