Luxury home sales flourished in Montreal but continued to dwindle in Vancouver in the first half of 2019, according to a report released Wednesday by Sotheby’s International Realty Canada.
"Canada's top-tier real estate markets veered in separate directions," said the report, which tracked the number of condos, townhouses and detached homes sold for over $1 million and $4 million in major Canadian cities.
Sotheby’s has previously forecast Montreal as an emerging hot stop set to make new records. Sales of homes over $1 million jumped by 5% in the first half of the year from the same period last year, and sales of homes over $4 million soared by 267% with 11 properties sold.
There were “healthy increases” in sales of homes over $1 million in the Greater Toronto Area, where 8,612 such homes sold in the first half of the year, up by 12% from the same time last year. However, sales of homes over $4 million in GTA fell by 19%, which the report attributed to sellers not listing such homes on the Multiple Listing Service in favour of private sales.
Meanwhile, in Vancouver’s formerly heated housing market, luxury sales continued to drop due to fallout from government intervention. Homes sold for over $1 million fell by 33% to 1,308 homes, and homes sold for over $4 million fell by 34% to 73 homes.
Sotheby’s also tracked the sales of homes over $1 million in Calgary, which fell by 21%, according to a report by The Canadian Press.
