More than 75 per cent of the units at Mizrahi Developments’ The One tower, above, sold in just over a year, says company president Sam Mizrahi. He says he expects continued demand in 2019 for luxury projects.
MIZRAHI DEVELOPMENTS
Across much of the Greater Toronto Area, the luxury market is not showing any signs of slowdown.
Oakville’s luxury market, for instance, is driven by “move-up buyers” and is expected to thrive in 2019, according to the RE/MAX 2019 Canadian Housing Market Outlook. Some buyers are moving away from more urban centres such as Toronto to embrace the livability of that area. Average residential sale prices there are projected to jump five per cent in 2019, from 2018’s $1,078,595. The market is particularly robust for homes beginning at the $2-million price point, according to the report.
Sam Mizrahi is president of Mizrahi Developments, the company behind The One, an 85-storey, uber-luxury condominium, hotel and retail tower going up on the southwest corner of Yonge and Bloor streets in downtown Toronto. He says his company sold more than 75 per cent of the units in The One in just over a year.
“We are seeing continued demand through 2019 on our luxury projects both at The One and our development in Ottawa at 1451 Wellington St. W., in which both developments’ unit pricing is over the $1.5-million level,” Mizrahi says.
While the mortgage stress test, rising in interest rates and the foreign buyers’ tax affected all real estate markets in Canada, including luxury, Toronto is a strong economic centre and can withstand more shocks than any other market in Canada, says Brad Henderson, president and chief executive officer of Sotheby’s International Realty Canada.
In its 2019 Top-Tier Spring Outlook released in March, Sotheby’s forecasted a brisk spring on the sales front for luxury homes in the GTA. Preliminary sales data from the first two months of 2019 show a market that has stabilized after the unpredictability of 2018.
Highlights from the Sotheby’s report:
- Sales of $1-million-plus residential homes in the GTA (condos, attached and single-family homes) dipped two per cent year over year over the first two months of 2019.
- Sales on properties in the GTA between $1-million and $2-million decreased one per cent.
- In the city of Toronto, sales of homes between $1-million and $2-million rose seven per cent over the first two months of 2019, compared with the first two months of 2018.
- The forecast for the spring $1-million-plus condo market is positive for the GTA, with top-tier condo sales over the first two months of 2019 rising seven per cent year-to-year.
- The attached home market for the GTA also looks strong: Sales over $1-million soared 40 per cent early in 2019, compared with the first two months of 2018.
“Notwithstanding the reduction in the number of homes that have been bought and sold, there continues to be upward pressure on price particularly in the 416 region,” Henderson says.
“Well-located and well-priced homes will always continue to sell.”
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