Toronto's luxury condo market is still going strong despite the condo slump. Here's why

• By Mike Heddle
• Posted Monday, Mar 10, 2025 12:39 pm

Toronto's luxury condo market is still going strong despite the condo slump. Here's why

There’s a whimsical playroom to keep kids entertained, a swanky resident lounge, and even a golf simulator. 

The three-bedroom condo at Yonge and Eglinton — a short walk to the subway, with a sweeping view of midtown from a substantial terrace — is one many Torontonians would jump at the chance to live in.

But the price tag is out of reach for most, at $3.6 million.

While Toronto’s traditional condo market is struggling under higher interest rates and oversupply, the luxury segment is still going strong. Bigger floor plans are becoming more popular, and some buyers are even combining units, as developers pivot away from shoeboxes in the sky.

While some developers are using the slowdown in the market to cater towards renters, others are seeing opportunity in luxury. However, with prices well over a million dollars and sometimes even in the double-digit millions, they’re far from accessible to the average home-hunting Torontonian. 

Builders, “want to move away from, if you want to call it, the tinier shoebox style 500-square-foot condo,” said Adrienne Lake, managing broker of Corcoran Horizon Realty’s Yorkville office. “Because those are aimed at the investors and the investors aren’t investing.”

Lake says she’s seen a lot of activity and interest on recent upscale listings, including a three-bedroom, six-car garage “gem of a property,” at 200 Cumberland St., for $17.8 million.

The definition of luxury is subjective, but condos over $2 million and over $4 million, particularly in the city of Toronto, are doing well, said Dianne Usher, senior director of Ontario talent growth and managing broker with Sotheby’s.

Luxury condo sales over the $4-million mark were up 12 per cent year over year in the GTA, to 37 units sold in 2024, according to Sotheby’s.

Thirty-four of those were in Toronto, a 31 per cent annual increase.

“There’s a bit of a glut of investor-sized condos, but not condos of a size that would appeal to either downsizers, right-sizers, or even families,” Usher said. 

Lake said in addition to this lack of larger inventory, the potential buyers are typically less impacted by interest rates, which have risen from pandemic lows of 0.25 per cent, as real estate is just one part of their portfolios.

They also tend to have more cash available, and combine it with other forms of financing, rather than getting a typical mortgage.

The 2023 ban on foreign buyers has also had an impact, said Lake.

“It forces the builder to create a product that is more, if you want to use the word, livable. It has more space for people to actually create a home and perhaps not run an Airbnb out of it or rent it out to a student or somebody who is a looking for a temporary living space.”

Buyers are merging units in luxury buildings at Glenhill Condominiums at Bathurst and Glencairn and 50 Scollard in Yorkville, said Diana Girgis, director of sales and marketing with Lanterra Developments, in an email.

“Our ability to respond to the market in real time, and adjust the layouts accordingly, has helped us win in a challenging....[READ MORE]