Sotheby’s International Realty is seeing a surge in demand from wealthy Syrians, Egyptians and Europeans looking for a safe and relatively stable place to park their millions — Canada’s softening real estate market.

There has been an uptick in “very significant transactions” in tony areas like Oakville and North Toronto by Europeans, many with young families who originally had planned to settle in the U.S. but fell in love with Canada instead, says Sotheby’s Canada CEO Ross McCredie.

At the same time, Montreal’s exclusive Westmount area has become top of the real estate wish list for high-net worth Syrians and Egyptians looking for a safe haven for their money and families, he added.

Increasingly, many of these deals — especially those over $10 millionthose over $10 million — aren’t even showing up in MLS sales tallies because of buyers seeking the privacy afforded by private or exclusive deals, or finalized under the cloak of a corporate purchase, McCredie noted.

“The lack of inventory is a big problem in the high-end market,” so agents are having to find their own properties rather than look to the MLS system, said Andy Taylor of Sotheby’s Toronto office, which has done more international business in the last 18 months than in the last six years.

via Canada’s housing market drawing the big-money crowd | Toronto Star.

THUNDER BAY – The Thunder Bay real estate market remains hotter than most of Ontario. Thunder Bay, along with London, Windsor, and Sudbury will outperform the provincial averages over the coming year. Across Canada, sales activity is expected to be less volatile next year than it was in 2012. In 2013, the Canadian Real Estate Association is forecasting that national sales activity will recede by two per cent to 447,400 units.

This is a slightly lower level of activity than previously forecast, reflecting the ongoing impact of new mortgage rules into next year. The continuation of moderate economic, job, and income growth will temper the impact of recent mortgage rule changes, which are not expected to dampen activity much more than has already been felt until interest rates are expected to begin rising in late 2013.

via Thunder Bay real estate market remains hotter than most of Ontario.

It’s a brochure selling intriguing Hamilton real estate to creative types in Toronto, but it doesn’t mention Hamilton on the front cover.

That’s a purposeful omission.

The idea of the Urban Space marketing campaign is to lure readers in with the exposed brick walls and wide open spaces and then let them know it’s Hamilton only when they dig deeper.

“People see they can buy an entire school for $1 million and they say, ‘Where is this? Where can I buy a school for $1 million?’” said Glen Norton, the city’s urban renewal manager, who came up with the idea for the brochure.

“The numbers are shocking to people from Toronto.”

via Hot Toronto? Say hello to cool Hamilton | TheSpec.com.