Fall 2020 Luxury Sales Report

Affluent buyers seeking more land and more privacy.

Western Canada’s 2020 luxury property market continues to exceed expectations with all kinds of activity, ironically, as a result of the times we’re in. Yes, it’s a financially challenging year for most of us. But with the call for social distancing and the work-from-home trend, people who can afford it are buying larger homes in the suburbs, away from the urban density. Mortgage rates are low at the moment in Canada and these affluent buyers usually have no problem qualifying.

Across the country this summer and fall, there has been increased demand for expensive vacation homes and large, suburban properties with more land and more privacy. Properties in the “luxury” category sell at about three times the average home price in the market. Calgary and Edmonton luxury properties start at about $1.5 Million right now. What does that get you?

In any of these markets a detached, single family home in the “entry-level luxury category” has at least twice the square footage, extra space for gyms and spas, home offices and sprawling, restaurant-grade kitchens with (for example) Molteni, Sub-Zero, Wolf or Gaggenau appliances. The kitchen will almost certainly feature an island, possibly topped with Italian Carrara marble and a sink boasting crystal faucet handles (or no handles at all). Your bathroom might feature a tub carved by Japanese company Stone Forest from a block of granite! For the luxury price, you’ll get an expansive, open floorplan with beautiful hardwood, tile or marble floors, standalone indoor fire features, soaring ceilings, modern chandeliers and massive, high-end windows with tint control or automated blinds. In Edmonton, luxury property views feature might be the North Saskatchewan River Valley. All of the above is pretty much a given at the low end of the luxury category! If you’ve got the cash, you might like a spec-built mega mansion with wraparound deck and infinity pool plus two-lane tunnel to the underground supercar garage with elevator to the rooftop helicopter pad.

These abodes do exist in Western Canada. They’re priced in the tens of millions of dollars. Worldwide, in the hottest markets, that price skyrockets into the hundreds of millions!