Delta has the highest share of homes listed for more than $1 million in Canada, topping a list of 70 cities with the largest concentration of “luxury” homes.
That’s according to a recent Point2Homes analysis of residential properties for sale in the 70th largest municipalities, based on listings on Feb. 19.
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The real estate listing site’s report found that the top 30 cities with the most million-dollar-plus homes are in B.C. and Alberta. In 15 cities, including eight in B.C., these pricey homes make up more than half the inventory.
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But it’s Delta, not Vancouver, that tops the list, with 244 out of 303 listings, or 80.5 per cent, going for at least $1 million.
Vancouver has the second-highest percentage of homes selling above that threshold, at 70 per cent, or 1,924 out of 2,730 listings. That’s not surprising, said the study, given the nearly $1.248-million benchmark price of a home in the city in January.
Oakville, Ont., was third with 69 per cent, while Richmond Hill, Ont., was fourth with 63.5 per cent of listings topping the million-dollar threshold, respectively. Richmond rounds out the top five at 63.5 per cent.
Other B.C. cities with at least half of their listings hitting the $1-million mark include North Vancouver, Maple Ridge, Coquitlam, Surrey and Abbotsford.
At the other end of the spectrum, Kamloops, Saanich, and Nanaimo have the lowest concentration of such listings, at less than 25 per cent, said Point2Homes spokeswoman Sabina Boboc.
“Still, this is significant, especially when compared to the nationwide minimum of under two per cent,” she said.
Nationally, St. John’s, N.L., has the smallest share out of the 70 cities in the report, at 1.5 per cent. Saguenay, Que., has 1.8 per cent and Red Deer, Alta., has two per cent.
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However, with the rapid escalation of housing prices in the last decade, $1 million isn’t what it used to be, and may not buy something considered luxurious in hot housing markets such as Vancouver and Toronto.
Luxury varies in meaning depending on location, noted the study, which also looked at properties above $4 million, which it defined as “ultra-luxury.”
Using that threshold, Vancouver tops the list, with almost 13 per cent of properties listed for sale priced at $4 million or more. It’s followed by Toronto suburbs Oakville, Richmond Hill, Vaughn, and Milton.
In B.C., Richmond has the second-highest share of ultra-luxury homes at 5.6 per cent, or seventh in Canada. Surrey is eighth, at nearly five per cent.
Toronto has a smaller share of $4-million-plus homes for sale, at 4.5 per cent, placing 10th.
About 23 cities, or a third of cities surveyed, had no listings that reach $4 million, including Saskatoon and Regina; Longueuil, Que.; and Windsor, Ont.
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TORONTO – One expert predicts Ottawa‘s changes to mortgage rules will help spur demand among potential homebuyers but says policies aimed at driving new supply are needed to address the “core issues” facing the market.
The federal government’s changes, set to come into force mid-December, include a higher price cap for insured mortgages to allow more people to qualify for a mortgage with less than a 20 per cent down payment.
The government will also expand its 30-year mortgage amortization to include first-time homebuyers buying any type of home, as well as anybody buying a newly built home.
CIBC Capital Markets deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal calls it a “significant” move likely to accelerate the recovery of the housing market, a process already underway as interest rates have begun to fall.
However, he says in a note that policymakers should aim to “prevent that from becoming too much of a good thing” through policies geared toward the supply side.
Tal says the main issue is the lack of supply available to respond to Canada’s rapidly increasing population, particularly in major cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17,2024.
OTTAWA – The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold in August fell compared with a year ago as the market remained largely stuck in a holding pattern despite borrowing costs beginning to come down.
The association says the number of homes sold in August fell 2.1 per cent compared with the same month last year.
On a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis, national home sales edged up 1.3 per cent from July.
CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart says that with forecasts of lower interest rates throughout the rest of this year and into 2025, “it makes sense that prospective buyers might continue to hold off for improved affordability, especially since prices are still well behaved in most of the country.”
The national average sale price for August amounted to $649,100, a 0.1 per cent increase compared with a year earlier.
The number of newly listed properties was up 1.1 per cent month-over-month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Two Quebec real estate brokers are facing fines and years-long suspensions for submitting bogus offers on homes to drive up prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christine Girouard has been suspended for 14 years and her business partner, Jonathan Dauphinais-Fortin, has been suspended for nine years after Quebec’s authority of real estate brokerage found they used fake bids to get buyers to raise their offers.
Girouard is a well-known broker who previously starred on a Quebec reality show that follows top real estate agents in the province.
She is facing a fine of $50,000, while Dauphinais-Fortin has been fined $10,000.
The two brokers were suspended in May 2023 after La Presse published an article about their practices.
One buyer ended up paying $40,000 more than his initial offer in 2022 after Girouard and Dauphinais-Fortin concocted a second bid on the house he wanted to buy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
