Luxury home sales may have cooled globally in 2016, but not in this country. High-end buyers are flocking here in record numbers.
Two of the hottest luxury housing markets in the world are right here in Canada. Those are the findings of a new report from Christie’s International Real Estate. The report called, Luxury Defined, compiled data from over 100 real-estate brokerages around the world.
Hong Kong turns was the top luxury residential real estate market in the world in 2016, knocking London to second place. New York, Los Angeles and Singapore round out the top five global markets for properties selling for record prices.
However, Toronto and Victoria both top the list of fastest growing markets for luxury home sales. It took an average of 17 days to sell a luxury home in Toronto in 2016, down from 28 days in 2015. That marks the fastest pace of luxury home sales anywhere right now. The average time it took to sell a luxury property globally was 220 days.
Luxury home sales nearly doubled in this city in one year, and Toronto also saw the biggest price gains at 20 per cent year-over-year.
Luxury second-home or vacation home sales rose 36 per cent in Canada in 2016 and declined by 3 per cent in the U.S.
The top five hottest luxury markets
(Based on year-over-year growth in sales of luxury properties, 2016 vs 2015)
- Toronto ON
- Victoria BC
- San Francisco CA
- Austin TX
- Charleston SC
The Playboy Mansion was one of the most expensive homes sold last year, going for $105 million. The mansion was originally purchased by Hugh Hefner in 1971 for $1.05 million.
