Out-of-town buyers love Toronto because of our luxury housing
By Bert Archer - Globe and Mail
It may not look like London… yet. But more international buyers have spotted Toronto and started to snap up our luxury real estate.
“As expensive as our real estate is,” says one agent, whose agency is affiliated with auction house Christie’s international real-estate arm, Christie’s Great Estates, “you could never have a two-acre lot, close to downtown, with an indoor pool, tennis courts [except in Toronto]. There’s nowhere else like it.”
Properties’ proximity to the downtown core, plus what seem like bargain prices to foreign buyers, have attracted the attention of Sotheby’s, which just opened a Toronto real estate office in February, listing (among other properties) an $11.9-million modern extravaganza at 83 The Bridle Path (cover photos).
“There’s definitely an interest internationally,” says Sotheby’s International Realty executive vice-president and chief operating officer. “The Canadian economy has been strong. Toronto just made sense. It’s good exposure for Sotheby’s on the whole.”
She says her agency gets “a lot of people from London, from Germany. We’re still getting a lot of people from China and Hong Kong… we get calls from Atlanta, from France.”
She’s an agent with a real estate company she runs with her husband, the type of person you call when you’re looking for a house whose property taxes are roughly equivalent to the starting salary of a Bay Street lawyer. Like her $7.8-million listing at 75 The Bridle Path, for instance.
At 10,414 square feet, excluding the enormous indoor pool and garage space for five cars, it’s got something far beyond curb appeal. With London prices now sometimes exceeding $8,500 a square foot and apartments in Manhattan recently breaking through the $70-million barrier, this home’s $7.8-million price tag seems like a steal.
Now that the demand for luxury real estate is on the rise, specialty concierge services, which are common in cities such as New York and Paris, are on the rise too.
The president and CEO of Zebrano Lifestyle Solutions, has seen dramatic increases in international clientele since she started her company eight years ago. She says about 25 to 30% of her business is now made up of foreign buyers of Toronto real estate.
She says they always comment on how safe it is and how good the schools are, and the restaurant scene means a lot to them. Plus, “with all these architectural openings - and we now finally have an opera house - it’s a great place to live,” she says. “I think the city was dormant for a while, but now it’s on wheels.”
Available now: it’s not much, but it’s home
The carriage trade loves their amenities and their Park Avenue addresses. Even if, in Toronto, it’s a Bridle Path or Rosedale address.
12A Park Lane Cir. at Bayview Avenue and Post Road: Two levels at 10,698 square feet. Has pool with waterfall and sauna. $6.28-million.
75 The Bridle Path: 10,414 square feet, excluding the enormous indoor pool and garage space for five cars. $7.8-million.
Hawkridge Farm in Caledon: Just under 16,000 square feet plus 4,500-sq.-ft. gate house and coach house. The house was custom-built less than a decade ago.
Teddington Park, on 18th hole of Rosedale Golf Course, 6,500 square feet, separate three-bedroom coach house. Steve Stavro’s former residence. Pavarotti has sung there; Queen Mum slept there. $19.5-million.
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