Record-setting luxury

Good news continues in Calgary's million-dollar plus market

The weather wasn't the only thing heating up in April as Calgary's luxury market saw the third highest number of transactions ever recorded in the city in a single month.

From April 1 to April 30, 79 homes priced $1 million or up were sold in Calgary, falling just short of the all time
record of 83 set in May 2013. The second highest number of sales occurred in May 2012 when 80 million dollar-
plus homes changed hands. "The growth in this segment is both a reflection of rising prices and overall confidence and prosperity in the city," said CREB® chief economist Ann- Marie Lurie.

April's rise in luxury sales represents a 23 per cent increase over the 64 homes sold during the same month last year.
Between January and April, 265 million-dollar plus homes have been sold in Calgary – a 13 per cent increase over the 235 homes sold over the first four months of 2013.

Year-to-date, Lurie said the luxury home market represents 3.2 per cent of total residential sales in the city of Calgary. The trend is similar to last year but represents a rise from share levels which were under 2.3 per cent throughout 2012 and 2011, and averaged less than 1.5 per cent between 2005 and 2010.

Of all the luxury home sales within the city limits this year, over 93 per cent are single- family properties. Further evidence of the allure of Calgary's luxury market recently arrived with news the WAM Development group could
be bringing 1,800 luxury condos to downtown Calgary.

In April, a condo in Mission's luxury River project sold for $3.19 million – the highest price paid for a condominium in Calgary this year. In the single-family sector, the year's most lavish sale came in the neighbourhood of Elbow Park/Glencoe, where one home sold for $4.97 million.

It was also announced in April that two luxury properties in the city would go up for auction, the first sale of its kind in the city. The sale, which took place April 8, included a trophy equestrian property in Spruce Meadows, which
was originally offered for $4.6 million, and a prestigious 9,000 sq. ft. lakefront estate in Bearspaw.

Released earlier this year, a report from Sotheby's listed the growing number of opportunities for high-end jobs in
the city as one major reason Calgary's luxury sector is seeing such growth. Currently the hottest job market in the country, total employment in Alberta is up by 86,600 jobs since March of 2013, an increase
of four per cent.

"2013 proved to be a year that defied many analyst prediction," said Sotheby's International Realty Canada CEO, Ross McCredie. "We expect to see continued growth in western Canada's high-end housing market, specifically in attached and single-family homes in Vancouver and Calgary."

As a result, Alberta's population is growing faster than that of any other province. According to Statistics Canada, Alberta's total population was 4,082,571 at the beginning of 2014—an annual increase of 3.4 per cent.

Tagged: Calgary | Feature | luxury | luxury homes | million-dollar