The Bank of Canada’s aggressive rate cut in late October has finally induced homebuyers out of the woodwork.
That’s because the central bank’s October 23 policy announcement in which it slashed its overnight lending rate by 50 basis points to 3.75%, and in doing so, achieved neutral territory was an emphatic statement intended to stoke consumer confidence.
But while it will take some time for the conventional housing market to build momentum, the luxury market is poised to rebound, notwithstanding a glaring issue: scarcity of product.
“There has been so much uncertainty in the economy that conditions haven’t necessarily been fertile to launch luxury projects, but our team includes expert analysts and we’ve determined 2025 is going to be the right time,” said Yoav Bohbot, vice president & director of acquisitions at Brightstone, a developer based in the Greater Toronto Area.
There aren’t too many projects slated to go on sale next year in the luxury segment of the housing market, and that’s why Brightstone is taking advantage of the market by launching five projects across the GTA.
Those projects are SchoolHaus Towns and Mackenzie Park, both in Oshawa; OG Urban Towns in Mississauga; The Elms in Thornhill Woods in Richmond Hill; and Kerr Village Towns in Oakville, which was designed by world-renowned architect Richard Wengle.
Mackenzie Park is a mix of townhouses, semi- and single-detached homes, and located near schools, making it the perfect community for young families. Along with SchoolHaus Towns, which will see 159 stacked townhouses built on three acres adjacent to one of the GTA’s most sought-after schools, the developments are already making noise locally.
And Bohbot says these projects are located near schools for a reason.
“Many of the buyers grew up in the neighbourhood and now with children of their own, they want to come back, but there’s a lack of new housing in the area,” he said. “The character of the neighbourhood allowed us to build these beautiful luxury homes. The site has an elevation of nine metres on one end and it makes it feel like you’re in your own community.”
In addition to a 36-townhome project in Thornhill Woods, OG Urban Towns will be a uniquely situated luxury infill project in Mississauga. Located near Cooksville GO Station, the 101-unit stacked townhouse projects will have a large internal park and amenity space itself unusually large for a project like this.
The development is also fairly close to Mississauga’s city centre, which boasts Square One Shopping Centre and a slew of restaurants, but it’s also blocks away from the Hurontario LRT, which will stretch from Lakeshore to Bramalea in Brampton.“In this market there isn’t anything new today, even in that neighbourhood,” Bohbot said.
He added that new Canadians should find OG Towns, which will have up to three bedrooms, desirable.
“It will have an underground garage, and with a project like this, we’re targeting, primarily, the first-time homebuyer.”
In one of the most coveted neighbourhoods in Oakville, Brightstone is developing Kerr Village Towns, which will be a 48-unit townhouse project near Lake Ontario, with two commercial spaces as well. Originally purchased from SmartCentres, Brightstone has brought a whole new vision to the project, including store frontage on Lakeshore that will fit seamlessly with the character of the neighbourhood.
“The typical buyer here is someone who appreciates the neighbourhood,” Bohbot said. “They appreciate the walking distance to amenities like parks, shopping and, of course, schools. It’s location, location, location here; it’s second to none.”
Brightstone first burst onto the scene with two projects, The Briar on Avenue in Toronto and Fairfield Towns in Etobicoke. The former used the brilliant Wengle, while the latter, which with switch subway access, has a very interesting story behind it.
Brightstone decided to build all 14 units at Fairfield during the COVID-19 pandemic and then released them to the market only after they had been completed.
“It helped us achieve an even greater sale price because they were turnkey,” Bohbot said. “That’s another decision our team made, even though it was our very first project. Our team of experts understands the GTA’s markets better than anybody else in this industry and we know what the market can bear at any given time.”
