HispanicBusiness

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 01/09/13 -- In a report released today by Sotheby's International Realty Canada, 2012 activity shows promising momentum in luxury residential real estate in the country's largest urban centres.

As reflected in the latest Top-Tier Real Estate Report, several Canadian markets finished the year with stronger than anticipated growth over 2011. Toronto, Calgary and Montreal all ended 2012 with positive year-over-year sales growth in homes over $1 million. In the latter half of 2012, in light of the Canadian government's introduction of tighter mortgage rules to promote the long-term stability of the housing and mortgage market, several markets including Vancouver experienced a controlled softening much like conventional real estate.

The bi-annual report, compiled by Sotheby's International Realty Canada, examines the number of million dollar-plus residential properties sold from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2012. The report also highlights new data for the second half of 2012 (July 1 to December 31, 2012) in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal. The report compares the sales volume, number of days on market, inventory of listings and percentage of homes sold over the asking price.

Canadian top-tier market highlights include:

Calgary

With a healthy economy and a new and effective city council, momentum in Calgary's real estate market continued into the last half of 2012, especially in the high end. Compared to the same July to December period in 2011, listings over one million dollars were up by 38 per cent and sales of real estate in the same category were up 21 per cent. The average days on market for homes over a million dollars increased slightly to 66 days and the percentage of properties selling over asking price dropped slightly to 5 per cent. High-end neighborhoods like Elbow Park and Glencoe were among those to see strong demand. Comparing 2012 to 2011, listings of homes over one million dollars increased by 65% in Calgary to 1,559 homes and sales of homes in the same category increased by 20% to 535 homes sold.

Vancouver

In the second half of 2012, the Bank of Canada's tighter lending controls were felt across the country and in Vancouver's upper end real estate market. From July to December 2012, Vancouver's housing market experienced an expected softening. While inventory for homes listed for one million dollars was down 10 per cent from the same period in 2011, sales in the same category dropped 31 per cent. In the latter half of the year, Vancouver's high end market transitioned into one favouring buyers, with 5 per cent of homes over one-million dollars sold for over asking and listings over one million dollars taking an average of 54 days to sell. Comparing 2012 in its entirety to 2011, the number of homes listed over one million dollars increased by 2 per cent, while the number of homes sold in the same category decreased 34 per cent.