Toronto's luxury condo sales surge despite market, Sotheby's International says

Greater Toronto Area home sales may have hit a slump but a new report suggests Toronto's luxury condominiums are being gobbled up faster than ever by wealthy buyers willing to shell out over $1 million for apartments in the sky.

A million dollars is almost entry level in this city.- Adam Parsons, Bosley Real Estate Ltd.

Brad Henderson, president andCEO at Sotheby's International Realty, says there are different subsets of buyers responsible for the 98 per cent spike inluxury condo sales.

"Peopleare looking for an alternative to single family homes," Hendersonsaid.

He calls them "right sizers":people who are"moving from very large formathomes to a smaller environment where they don't have as much maintenance."

Hendersonsays the peoplewho are part of this trend are not onlyfirst-time buyers interested incentrally-located apartments with aview butalso baby boomers with lots of equity who arelooking to downsize.

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The dataalso indicates an even bigger boom amongsteven bigger spenders.

According to Sotheby'sTop-Tier Real Estate Report,sales of properties listed for over $4 millionwent up 150 per cent in the GTA compared to this time last year.

"The buyers and sellers of those properties are less concerned about macro-economic policies because housing represents a smallamount of their disposable income," Hendersonsaid.

Adam Parsons, a broker with BosleyReal Estate Ltd., represents properties in some of Toronto's wealthiest neighbourhoods. He says these buyers are unaffected by any lull in the current market.

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"A million dollars is almost entry level in this city," he said. "I work the luxury market and for me, it's over $3 million."

His recent sales back up Sotheby'sdata suggestingcondos are the new mansions for the rich and he doesn't think that's going to change anytime soon.

"People within that bracket are still buying. They don't makedecisions based on what the government has done," he said, referring to Premier Kathleen Wynne'shousing planproposed back in April to curb skyrocketing housing prices and cool off the GTA'sred-hot real estate market.

"Their decisions are based on their timing and what they're doing with their lifestyle," said Parsons.

Both he and Hendersonagree that for that reason, the luxury market won't be rattledby government intervention or even with theinterest ratehikeexpected from the Bank of Canada this week.

King of the castle: Toronto trumps other citiesfor luxury listings

The report ranks Toronto as the leader of Canada's luxury real estate market but also highlights fluctuations inVancouver, Calgary and Montreal.

For instance, Calgary is seeing a spike in "top-tier" salesfueled by the detached, single-family home market.

Montreal's million dollar condo sales saw a 51 per cent uptick over last year.

And even though condo views in this city might not offer the samebreathtaking mountain or ocean views as the wealthy enjoy in Vancouver, Toronto has the lock on luxury.

"It's because the money is here," said Parsons.

As condo sales surge, so is the market for Toronto's detached homes. Sotheby's data shows thatduring the first half of the year, sales are up 111 per centover last year and80 per centof those homes sold over asking.