In the Greater Toronto Area, Canada’s largest residential real estate market, sales of condominiums, semi-detached and detached homes priced above $4 million fell 42 per cent compared to the same time last year, when the market was still posting gains. Sales of homes priced above $1 million also fell, declining 39 per cent year over year. In September, they were down 52 per cent on an annual basis.
Vancouver’s market also came off the boil in the third quarter. Inventory “evaporated” and sales of homes above $4 million fell 51 per cent from the record set last summer. Sales of residences priced over $1 million declined 37 per cent. In September alone, transactions of homes on the market for $1 million or more fell 70 per cent year over year, Sotheby’s said.
In Montreal, the luxury market balanced out after sales climbed a record 71 per cent in the first half of the year. Sales of homes above $1 million fell 26 per cent from the same time last year, while transactions of homes above $4 million remained relatively flat. Luxury real estate showed signs of resilience in Calgary, however. Sales of homes above $1 million were “stable,” Sotheby’s said, falling only 12 per cent from the same time last year. Market activity also proved resilient at the start of autumn, with September sales of $1-million-plus homes roughly in line with last year’s levels.