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L u xu r y L i vi n g: S poi l you rsel f wi th th ese h om ey spoi l sIRIS BENAROIA, SPECIAL TO NATIONAL POST | October 18, 2014 9:15 AM ETMore from Special to National Post

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Chilled champagne, artisanal ice cream and anything served on a patio — these are the tastes of summer in Toronto. Add one more flavour to that list:luxurious homes.

The appetite for grand foyers, killer kitchens, tricked-out nanny suites — all the trappings of the good life — was insatiable throughout the hot season, asToronto experienced record-setting sales, as a Sotheby’s International Realty Canada 2014 Top-Tier Real Estate Report shows.

The $2-million-plus price range performed exceptionally well, with a greater number of single-family homes sold at more than $2-million than within the$1.5- to $1.75-million range. The market is expected to favour sellers right through fall, driven by lack of inventory and strong consumer demand for single-family homes, the report says.

On the swish-condo side, factors driving brisk sales include consumer confidence in the Canadian economy, which has also attracted international buyers,and Baby Boomers who are swapping their palatial houses for sky-high units. In a twist, they’re competing for downtown residences against adults the same

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ages as their grown children.

“There’s a lot of confidence in the market, especially between $2-million and $4-million single-family homes,” says Ross McCredie, president and CEO ofSotheby’s International Realty Canada, noting such homes typically take under 45 days to sell. “That’s an amazing number, whereas two years ago thatsector spent 80 to 100 days on the market, on average.”

Today, the thought of any home in a desirable location languishing on the market is as unusual as getting a reservation for dinner at Edulis. Walk into an openhouse in a coveted 416 neighbourhood and you can almost spot the facial twitches on prospective buyers sure that they’ve spotted The One.

In the 905, meanwhile, luxury purchasers have also been busy. Some notable single-family inventory includes Upper West Side in Thornhill Estates(uwscommunity.com), Kettle Lakes Club on Bayview (aspenridgehomes.com) and the Wyndance in Uxbridge (wyndance.empirecommunities.com).

Green and grand, the upscale master-planned community of Upper West Side in Thornhill Estates is located on the west side of Bathurst, north of MajorMackenzie Drive near the Eagles Nest golf course and the Don River ravine. A picturesque single main road will fork out to cul-de-sacs and smaller streetslined with sculptural lamps and pretty plants, giving the area an exclusive feel. Houses will boast an interesting mix of architectural styles and start in the upper$900,000s.

Travel half an hour northeast to Uxbridge where Empire Communities’ Wyndance is offering luxury-home lookers an eyeful on the Oak Ridges moraine.Graceful bungalow or two-storey new-builds are packed with premier finishes and situated on stately 80×200-foot lots, and start in the $900,000s. Homeownership also comes with membership to the connected golf course, designed by golf great Greg Norman.

Back at the other end of town, in Oakville, The Randall Residences (therandallresidences.com) by Rosehaven Homes is a four-storey, 36-unit buildingfeaturing cornices and the formal colonnades that give Beaux Arts architecture its distinctive elegance. Interior finishes include wide hallways, rotunda foyersand the opulence expected of a price tag that ranges from $2.18-million to $3.18-million (the building’s $4.125-milion penthouse has already sold.)

Also in Oakville, check out The Wave, modern townhouses by Matas Group, which start at $940,000 (wavetowns.com), and in the single-family category,The Gardens at Coronation by Hush Homes, $1.4-million to more than $2-million (hush.ca).

If these addresses feel far from the city, get your fix in the “incredibly in-demand Rosedale, Summerhill, Forest Hill, Yorkville and Lawrence Park,” Mr.McCredie says. These areas have attracted keen interest worldwide.

“When you go up in price, the number of international or foreign buyers goes up dramatically — almost at pace with it.

“Anything above the $5-million mark in the single-family [sector] — nearly 40% of those buyers are foreign,” he says. “That’s a very significant change in theToronto market, where Vancouver has always been very much a foreign market.”

However, not everyone wants to maintain a grand home. Barbara Lawlor, president and CEO of Baker Real Estate, has seen firsthand the allure of aprestigious condo.

“People move from their fabulous home in Forest Hill because the children have grown and the houses are very big, and sometimes they feel they’re rattlingaround,” Ms. Lawlor says. Luxury condos offer enviable ease: Not only is it exceptionally efficient day-to-day living, you can load up the Louis Vuittonluggage and go tropical for the winter; the concierge has your condo’s security covered.

Aspen RidgeMike Niven designed this kitchen for Aspen Ridge's Thornhill Estates model at Upper West Side.

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Plus, the city’s top condos can rival low-rise homes with space, finishes and amenities, especially when connected to a five-star hotel. These posh pads arehelmed by the leaders of hospitality: Shangri-La(living 180university.com), Trump (trumptoronto.ca), the Four Seasons (yorkvilleresidences.com) and the Ritz-Carlton (theresidencestoronto.com).

Imagine whisking friends up to the sub-penthouse Valencia suite on the 51st floor of the Ritz-Carlton (it’s for sale at $6.75-million), a lovely home with threebedrooms, a library and a west-facing terrace with panoramic lake and city views.

Being able to stroll to the cinema, the theatre or dinner is also intensely gratifying in traffic-congested Toronto, Ms. Lawlor asserts. “They don’t need to getinto their cars and drive to every conceivable personal social thing they want to enjoy.” (Though, should you need your wheels, a valet will drive them up

Brett Gundlock/Peter J. Thompson/J.P. MoczulskiKen Babstock, Dionne Brand, and Kevin Connolly have been named to McClelland & Stewart's new poetry board.

TridelThe entry to the mid-rise Sherwood at Huntington.

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from the parking spot for you.)

Non-hotel luxury condos are also a draw. There’s Tridel’s Sherwood at Huntington in the Bayview/Lawrence area (tridel.com), Yorkille’s ExhibitResidences by Bazis (bazis.ca), Minto’s Yorkville Park (yorkville-park.com), One Yorkville (bazis.ca), Chaz (chazyorkville.com) and Museum House(museumhouseonbloor.com). Get chummy with the financial scene at 488 University (488university.com) or go contemporary at Pears on the Avenue byMenkes (menkes.com).

Pears on the Avenue is a 20-storey boutique condominium with a handful of chic townhomes at its base. Spa bathrooms, chef’s kitchens and specialamenities, such as the indoor pool that is modelled after a Roman bath,makes this project one to watch.

Museum House has a two-storey, 7,000-square-foot $12.8-million penthouse that would suit an A-list celebrity: The home (it has four bedrooms but can becustomized) comes complete with private elevator, 12-foot ceilings, agracious circular staircase and oh, the views.

Spill out onto one of two stone terraces and take in the city as it tumbles out in bright, glittering promise. Collections of cranes are hard not to miss: “Thereare more cranes flying in Toronto than there are in any other cities in NorthAmerica,” Ms. Lawlor says.

Times have certainly changed, she adds. “When I started in the marketplace in 1987, condominiums were 5% of the market. Today we are consistently50%.” In terms of the ever-asked condo-bubble question, Ms. Lawlor is optimistic there will always be people to fill units across all price points — luxuryand otherwise. “Immigration is expected to grow [our population] to overnine million by 2036,” she says, “and they’re going to need places to live.”

Mr. McCredie shares her positive viewpoint, in more forthright terms. “It’s not rocket science. Toronto has over 80,000 new immigrants to the GTA everyyear,” he says. “That’s a staggering number you don’t see anywhere else in North America. We’ve got a stable economy and a low unemployment rate.Those are the factors driving our real estate market.”

Let’s not forget the surge of people approaching their 70s andf getting ready to relax and enjoy a new luxury abode — or pass a piece of the pie to theirchildren. “The major Baby Boomer population is making a huge impact on our real estate market,” Mr. McCredie says. “There’s a huge transfer of wealth,as … their kids are getting a windfall of cash through inheritance.”

There could be worse things to spend a pile of money on than appreciating real estate. Homeowners who bought $2-million single-family homes three yearsago have already seen their investment increase by 30%, Mr. McCrediesays.

Not bad at all.

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D James • 6 months ago

Thanks for the listing of up-and-coming neighborhoods. Now how about the "homey spoils" the headline promised? 2

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