Latest news with #DianneUsher
Hamilton Spectator
2 days ago
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
Toronto's ultra-luxury real estate market sees whopping 200 per cent increase in sales
The Toronto-area ultra-luxury real estate market defied troubling economic headwinds with a whopping 200 per cent increase in sales in the first half of 2025 over the same time last year. According to Sotheby's International Realty Canada's 2025 'Mid-Year State of Luxury Report,' residential sales in Canada's largest luxury real estate market declined in the first half of 2025 as uncertainty slowed activity. But the region's ultra-luxury real estate saw 12 sales for homes over $10 million in the first half of 2025, compared to four sales for the same period last year. 'Typically, this price range for the homes that are over $10 million takes longer to sell, as these buyers tend to be more selective,' said Dianne Usher, a managing broker at Sotheby's International Realty Canada. 'But we have more sellers in this market and buyers had more selection and when they see what they want they go for it. It was the right mix of buyers and inventory in the first two quarters of 2025.' Sotheby's experts also reported an increase in ultra-luxury real estate transactions occurring 'off-market' as sellers increasingly sought greater discretion and privacy in the sale of their properties. These are typically public figures, such as politicians, athletes, entertainers, who don't want anyone to know they were in the marketplace, Usher said. Despite these gains, luxury residential real estate sales over $4 million for all property types saw a decline in the first half of 2025, falling 28 per cent year-over-year to 222 properties sold between Jan. 1 and June 30. Sales of properties priced over $1 million experienced a 23 per cent annual decline to 13,563 units sold in the first half of 2025. Buyers in these price ranges were more impacted by economic uncertainty with the U.S. and are waiting on the sidelines to see how the market reacts. Within the city of Toronto, luxury residential real estate activity was also muted, as prospective buyers delayed decisions. Overall, sales of top-tier properties over $1 million declined 13 per cent annually to 4,951 properties sold in the first six months of the year, while sales over $4 million fell 23 per cent year-over-year to 142 properties sold in the first half of 2025. Despite this general trajectory, ultra-luxury transactions over $10 million more than doubled to seven properties sold, compared to three sold in the same period a year prior. Luxury single-family homes in prestigious neighbourhoods near top-tier schools, including Leaside, Riverdale, Upper Forest Hill, High Park and The Kingsway, remain coveted by prospective buyers, the report said. Buyer's market conditions remained pervasive across the GTA's luxury condominium segment in the first half of 2025, as inventory surged, purchasing timelines lengthened, and price negotiations skewed in favour of prospective buyers, the report said. Buyers also prioritized longer closings, Usher said, as those downsizing need time to sell their bigger, single-family home properties.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Luxury home sales surge in Montreal and Calgary
Canada's luxury housing market in 2025 is a tale of two economies, as Montreal and Calgary post double-digit gains in high-end home sales, while Toronto and Vancouver face sharp declines. Despite record-high prices and geopolitical headwinds weighing on major markets, Montreal's $1-million-plus home sales surged in the first half of 2025, as did Calgary's $4-million-plus luxury segment, according to Sotheby's International Realty Canada's mid-year report. In contrast, Toronto and Vancouver both saw top-tier sales drop. Vancouver had the worst performing market in the first half of 2025. Sales of $1-million-plus properties were down 26 per cent year-over-year, while $4-million-plus sales fell sharply by 51 per cent. Only two properties worth $10-million-plus were sold in the first half of 2025. The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) also reported a drop, with a 23 per cent decline in $1-million-plus sales and a 28 per cent decline in transactions above $4 million. However, Toronto's $10-million-plus market quietly boomed with 12 sales, up 200 per cent from last year. Dianne Usher, senior growth director Ontario and managing broker at Sotheby's International Realty Canada attributed the movement in Toronto's ultra luxury ($10-million-plus) market to the buyers and sellers' resilience to fluctuations. 'Buyers and sellers in the $10-million-plus range are more resilient to the nuances and the fluctuations in the marketplace than buyers in the $1 million or $4 million price range,' Usher said. 'They buy what they want, when they want, and they sell when they want to sell,' she continued. Montreal and Calgary both witnessed a surge in transactions across both $1-million-plus and $4-million-plus properties. In Montreal, $1-million-plus sales rose 26 per cent year-over-year while sales in the same category in Calgary rose three per cent. Whereas $4-million-plus sales rose 22 per cent in Montreal — including a $10-million-plus sale — and 43 per cent in Calgary. Usher attributed these gains to multiple factors. '(There has been) a lot of interprovincial movement to Alberta, particularly Calgary, in the last couple of years, so that speaks to the markets rising there. In Montreal, there was pent up demand over the last year and a lot of (people) wanting to buy in,' Usher said. Montreal was the only region where the condo market trended upward, with sales of entry-level ($1 million to $2 million) luxury units up 24 per cent year-over-year. Across the rest of the country, however, the condo market has been sluggish. In the GTA, for example, sales of condos in the $1-million-plus and $4-million-plus categories were down 29 per cent and 18 per cent respectively. Vancouver had a 24 per cent sales decline for condos worth more than $1 million and a 29 per cent drop for those priced at $4 million–plus. In Calgary, $1-million-plus condo sales fell eight per cent. Usher believes the lull will be short-lived and expects a rebound for the condominium market once the effects of post-poned or cancelled projects become more evident. 'In the next few years, we will see a big surge (in buying) because of the lack of supply (due to lack of building), and investors coming back into the market once the foreign buyer ban is lifted,' she said. The foreign-buyer ban prohibits foreigners from purchasing residential properties in Canada. The ban came into effect on Jan. 1, 2023 and was originally set to expire on Jan. 1, 2025, however, in February of last year, it was extended until Jan. 1, 2027. How the 'Bank of Mom and Dad' has become essential for homebuying Canada's June housing numbers reveal a market that remains 'stagnant,' say economists Looking forward, Usher expects the market to improve by the end of the year. ' I believe that we are poised for a strong third quarter,' she said. 'We're seeing a great deal of interest from buyers.' Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
CTV News
4 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Ultra-luxury home sales up in GTA, even as ‘chaos' becomes new normal in Toronto real estate market
While data show many potential homebuyers are sitting out of Toronto's real estate market for now, it appears that those shopping for the GTA's most expensive homes are doing the opposite. Sales of ultra-luxury homes worth more than $10 million in the Greater Toronto Area are up 200 per cent for the first half of this year compared to the same period last year, according to a new report from Sotheby's International Realty Canada. 'Residential sales in Canada's largest luxury real estate market declined in the first half of 2025 as uncertainty slowed activity across much of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA),' the report says. 'However, the region's ultra-luxury real estate market defied headwinds, while sales activity in several of Toronto most prestigious neighbourhoods remained resilient.' According to the report, 12 properties worth more than $10 million were sold in the Greater Toronto Area between January and June, seven of them in Toronto proper. That compares to just four sales in that category in the same period last year. At the same time, sales have declined in just about every other home category. Sales of $4 million-plus homes in the GTA were down 28 per cent year over year, while sales of $1 million-plus homes fell 23 per cent. So why are ultra-luxury home sales bucking the trend? 'Just think how Warren Buffett buys. He buys when everybody else is not buying,' says Dianne Usher, managing broker for Sotheby's International Realty Canada. 'That's the thinking of the ultra luxury buyer. Nobody else is buying, there's uncertainty in the marketplace. They have confidence in the market, and they're out there and they're looking and they're buying.' With an extension of the federal foreign buyers ban still in place, all of the purchasers have been local, she says. So what is someone looking for if they have $10 million to spend on a new pad? 'The prime real estate buyer is very, very selective today. You know, schools, lifestyle, location play a huge, huge role,' Usher said. 'They want something that exudes quality, elegance. They want something that's comfortable. They don't want anything particularly outlandish or daring as well. They want something that is solid and withstands the test of time.' Some of the Toronto neighbourhoods that fit the bill include areas like The Bridal Path, Rosedale, Moore Park, The Annex, Yorkville, and The Kingsway. More sales of $10 million-plus properties are also taking place 'off-market,' the report notes. Usher says that this could be for a variety of reasons, including the fact that expensive homes are often difficult to accurately price and often take longer to sell. An interested buyer for the property might only come forward after a listing has expired, or the seller could choose not to list in order to sell more discretely. 'Many sellers, particularly in the ultra luxury rage, don't want their names disclosed when they sell a property, or even if they're selling a property, they don't want that information in the public purview. They're very much more private, very much more discreet,' she says. Investors turning away from condos Of the dozen properties that sold for $10 million plus so far this year, all have been freeholds. 'None of them are the high-end luxury condos,' Usher said. And while just 222 homes worth $4 million or more were sold in the GTA in the first half of this year, just 18 of them were condos. 'Buyer's market conditions remained pervasive across the GTA's luxury condominium segment in the first half of 2025, as inventory surged, purchasing timelines lengthened and price negotiations skewed in favour of prospective buyers,' the report states. 'Sotheby's International Realty Canada experts report that cautious investors have retreated from Toronto's condominium market, shifting the buyer profile toward end-users with highly selective lifestyle-driven preferences.' Overall condominium sales over $1 million in the GTA were down 29 per cent year-over-year to 938 units. The report says the drop reflects 'buyer hesitancy in an uncertain market' and adds that a buyer's markets is expected to persist for some time. 'As the first half of 2025 drew to a close, threats to the Canadian economy continued to influence consumer sentiment across the region's conventional and luxury markets,' the report states. 'With active listings up more than 30 per cent in June according to TRREB, and absorption rates lagging, buyer-friendly conditions are expected to persist across much of the region's conventional and luxury segments through the summer months.' Fourth quarter could see 'active market' in other categories But while uncertainty is expected to continue in the market, Usher says she sees reason for optimism. 'The chaos is now translating into a new normal,' Usher says. 'So it's not that this too will pass. It's just that we've learned as a community to adjust, pivot and adapt.' She said that while buyers in the ultra luxury segment might have unique circumstances, their confidence in the market suggests they're looking past some of the political and economic turmoil and that Toronto is a good long-term bet for those who plan to live here for many years to come. 'Certainly there's more resilience in the upper-end luxury market. However, I believe that, given what we've weathered so far this year, that we are poised for a very active third quarter, and in the $4 million plus range, as well as over a million for that matter. 'I feel that the there's been chaos, quite candidly, in the spring of this year, and buyers particularly have been sidelined and not sure as to whether to proceed. Well, now chaos is, quite frankly, becoming to perhaps the new normal, and let's just get on with our purchases.' The Sotheby's report comes on the heels of a Royal LePage report which showed that Toronto home prices declined by three per cent last quarter but are expected to increase by two per cent by the fourth quarter, making up some of the drop. Usher predicted that with less competition in the market, some buyers might seize on the opportunity to upgrade to higher-end homes. 'Real estate for the average buyer in Toronto, is always a good investment, but it's not a short-term investment; It's a long term investment,' Usher notes. 'If you want to go and buy a piece of property, do a quick fix on it and flip it, this is not the market to do it. 'If you want to buy your first home, your second home, your third home, you want to move up, you want to continue to live and work in Toronto, now is an excellent time.'
Ottawa Citizen
06-06-2025
- Business
- Ottawa Citizen
Homes: Trade war turmoil not impacting luxury real estate: Sotheby's
A new report from Sotheby's International Realty Canada reveals that while sales of $1 million-plus properties declined by 29 per cent in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, there is room for optimism particularly when it comes to luxury properties. Article content Findings indicate that the 'ultra-luxury market for properties over $10 million stood out as one of the nation's rare real estate strongholds in the first quarter of 2025.' Article content Article content Article content The report also notes that a promising rebound in Canadian real estate early at the start of 2025 was swiftly derailed by rising Canada–U.S. trade tensions, the threat and implementation of tariffs and counter-tariffs, and growing macroeconomic volatility. Article content The good news, according to Dianne Usher, the senior director of talent growth and managing broker in Ontario with Sotheby's, is that the confidence tide may be turning and not only for high-priced homes and condos. Article content 'The reason is, is we're sensing a stability entering the marketplace,' she said. 'Here in Ontario, we've got two elections over and done with, we seem to have some sense of stability coming in terms of our relationship with our greatest ally, and that's boding well for confidence coming back to the spring market.' Article content There is, said Usher, also multiple offers coming in for various properties, which is a good sign. Article content Article content Effi Barak, president of Sotheby's Canadian operation, said that 'Toronto's ultra-luxury single-family home market, particularly in its most prestigious neighbourhoods, remains poised for activity. Article content 'While buyers are increasingly selective — negotiating assertively and prepared to wait for the 'perfect' home – there is underlying strength in this segment. Article content · Calgary's luxury real estate market remains 'well-positioned to withstand tariff threats and economic risks given its growth momentum from 2024. Following a record-setting population boom in 2024 that boosted Calgary's population by 6.14% year-over-year, the city remains positioned for growth in 2025, as the province of Alberta, added 28,496 new residents in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the last quarter of 2024 according to Statistics Canada, the largest net gain of population over other Canadian provinces and territories.'
