Vancouver has the highest concentration of luxury homes for sale in Canada, but in eight other cities more than 50 per cent of active listings are in the $1-million-plus category, says a recent report by Point2 Homes.
The firm says it looked into the number of homes listed for sale on its website and on other major real estate websites in the 50 largest cities in Canada. It found that 76 per cent of homes listed in Vancouver were priced at more than $1 million. In eight more cities – Richmond Hill, Markham, Oakville and Vaughan in Ontario and Burnaby, Coquitlam, Richmond and Surrey in B.C. – more than half of active listings are priced at $1 million or more.
“Vancouver’s high-end market has been on the rise for quite some time – taking fifth place in Mercer’s 19th Quality of Living Ranking, the city remains a preferred choice for many home buyers, both local and foreign,” says Point2. “And with the list of the most expensive homes for sale in Canada featuring mainly Vancouver properties, the city definitely deserves its ‘leader of the pack’ title when it comes to high-end housing.”
Toronto boasts the same number of high-end homes as Vancouver, with around 1,800 units for sale, but that accounts for just 29 per cent of the homes on the market. “With top-tier homes comprising less than a third of the overall 6,232 available listings, Toronto doesn’t even make it into the top 10, taking only the 13th spot in our nationwide comparison,” says Point2. The city was also outranked by neighbouring Burlington (with a luxury ratio of 31 per cent), Vaughan (51 per cent), Markham (54 per cent), Oakville (54 per cent) and Richmond Hill (67 per cent).
Calgary ranks 23rd with a seven per cent luxury ratio. “A modest, yet notable 26 per cent year-over-year rise in the sales of $1-million-plus homes in early 2017 brought a bit of optimism into the picture, but it seems that fluctuating oil prices and continued uncertainty in this sector still pose a threat,” says Point2.
To view the entire top 50 cities ranking, click here.
