The Toronto luxury real estate industry is already hyper-competitive, with brokerages duelling it out. That’s especially true these days, with a luxury market that by all indications we can see is red hot. That includes recreational properties north of our fine city. So when an award comes your way, it’s cause for celebration.
Related: Luxury Lifestyle Awards: Best residential interior design firm in the UK
Regarding Luxury has an ongoing partnership with the Luxury Lifestyle Awards, based in New York. They came to us with the news that both Harvey Kalles Real Estate Ltd. and Hammond International Properties were given awards for brokerage excellence in two different categories. So we had to recognize it.
Harvey Kalles Real Estate Ltd.
Harvey Kalles Real Estate Ltd. has been around since 1957, a staple on the Toronto area luxury real estate scene. They were awarded The Best Luxury Real Estate Brokerage in Toronto for 2021 by Luxury Lifestyle Awards.
“We love being part of this vibrant and cultured region,” says Michael Kalles, president, Harvey Kalles Real Estate Ltd. “We are so proud to have been recognized for our achievement in the international luxury market. Our continuing support of over 225 charitable organizations every year has allowed us to maintain a solid reputation as a successful and socially responsible corporation.”
Harvey Kalles Real Estate Ltd. has more than 275 agents under their umbrella. They had $2.6 billion in sales in 2019, with 51 transactions completed per week, with an average sales price of $1.57 million.
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These are bullish times for those people that sell luxury real estate in the region. From high up, anyway, the numbers look really good. The other day, we wrote on Kyle Lowry’s north Toronto, 10-bathroom, six bedroom home, listed for $5.3 million. Records show his company paid $5.2 million for it in 2017. So that listing needs a deeper dive, some more examination.
Lowry, the all-star guard with the Toronto Raptors, is based in Florida now with the team, so maybe he’s cut the price knowing the team won’t be back playing in Toronto anytime soon. Or maybe he’s expecting a trade. Maybe a lateral move, to another part of the city?
Market is hot right now
Brokerages like Harvey Kalles Real Estate Ltd. will tell you the market for luxury, premium-priced real estate is hot right now. And that’s despite the fact that one of the typical market drivers in our city, immigration, has been effectively nullified because of the pandemic.
Supply, especially for premium, low-rise housing, has never been this low. That, plus low interest rates, a huge uptick in savings as a result of lockdown living, and an expected $1 trillion intergenerational wealth transfer that’s coming, are market pillars. Real estate remains a safe and predictable way to make money in Canada.
Hammond International Properties listing
At the end of 2020, there was less than a month of supply for single detached homes on the local MLS, and less than a half-month supply for semis and towns. And this is playing out across Canada, where on New Year’s Day, there were fewer than 100,000 MLS listings for the first time on record, according to information provided by Harvey Kalles Real Estate Ltd.
The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board backs up the messaging that’s coming out of the luxury real estate brokerages. In January 331 properties north of $2 million sold in the GTA – including 314 detached homes. In January 2020, that total was 130, according to TRREB, including 113 detached homes.
Hammond International Properties
The Toronto-based boutique brokerage was awarded The Best Real Estate Brokerage in Canada for 2021, by the Luxury Lifestyle Awards. They’ve been in business for 28 years. One of their areas of expertise is providing premium real estate services for professional athletes and those in the entertainment industry.
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I am a 50-something Torontonian who loves everything about my city. It’s been my home, my playground, for my entire life. I went to school here. I met my wife here. I own real estate here. I love writing about the transformation of my city on the world stage, which hasn’t been anything short of dramatic. That continues on, as I write this. I write on the real estate scene. I write on travel and fashion. I like following the world of luxury watches.
But I love writing about cars – check that, luxury cars, a level of superior, engineering sophistication, high performance and style, that transports you not just from one destination to another but also out of whatever you are going through on a particular day, whatever mood you are in, all to another head space. It’s complete and total exhilaration, head to toe.
Check out my stories, and email me direct at mkeast@regardingluxury.com
