Luxury home sales soar in Toronto, Vancouver

Toronto

SALES of the most expensive luxury homes more than doubled in Toronto in the first seven months of the year, fuelled by foreign demand for housing in Canada's largest city, according to Re/Max Holdings Inc and Re/Max Integra.

Sales of houses and condos worth at least C$3 million (S$3.2 million) surged to 379 units in Toronto from Jan 1 to July 31 this year, up 119 per cent from the same period the year before, Re/Max said in a report. That was the biggest gain across all luxury categories and cities including Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary, Oakville and Victoria. Vancouver was second with sales in the C$3 million-plus category up 72 per cent to 572 units, according to the report.