Published 7 September 2026 · By Jatin Dua, Broker of Record, RE/MAX Quantum Realty
This is the reference page for the whole luxury cluster on this site — thirty-seven questions, answered with the actual numbers rather than with adjectives. Every figure here comes from a published source listed at the bottom.
If you only read three answers: there were roughly 300 GTA sales above $3 million in four months of 2026; land transfer tax on a $5,000,000 Toronto home is $271,450 in cash on closing; and Ontario gives you no cooling-off period on a resale purchase.
The market
1. How big is Toronto’s luxury market?
Three hundred GTA sales above $3 million between January and April 2026, and 62 above $5 million. For scale, the GTA recorded 5,057 sales in August 2026 alone.
2. Is it growing or shrinking?
The $3 million-plus band fell 17%, from 361 to 300. The $5 million-plus band was essentially flat at 62 against 63. The $2 million to $3 million band, at just over 400, was slightly ahead of the prior year.
3. What did the overall GTA market do?
August 2026: 5,057 sales, down 2.1%; average price $993,410, down 2.7%; median $850,000; MLS HPI composite down 4.5%; new listings 12,075, down 14.1%; 35 days on market; 97% sale-to-list.
4. Why did new listings fall so much faster than sales?
Because supply left the market faster than demand. That is the mechanism behind tightening inventory even in a year when the average price was down.
5. What counts as luxury in Toronto?
There is no official threshold. RE/MAX used $3 million for the GTA in 2026 and $1.5 million for Edmonton in the same report.
6. Is luxury recession-proof?
No. It is less liquid, not less risky. In soft years transaction counts fall much harder than prices, because owners withdraw rather than accept a lower number.
7. What was the largest sale?
$27,325,000 for 20 and 22 Park Lane Circle in 2025 — two adjoining properties bought together. In 2026, a Forest Hill South residence sold for $23,500,000 on 26 August, listed at $22 million with three competing offers.
Taxes and costs
8. What is land transfer tax at each price point?
| Price | Ontario | Toronto | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| $2,000,000 | $36,475 | $36,475 | $72,950 |
| $3,000,000 | $61,475 | $61,475 | $122,950 |
| $4,000,000 | $86,475 | $105,475 | $191,950 |
| $5,000,000 | $111,475 | $159,975 | $271,450 |
| $10,000,000 | $236,475 | $484,975 | $721,450 |
| $20,000,000 | $486,475 | $1,239,975 | $1,726,450 |
9. What changed on 1 April 2026?
Toronto raised its municipal rates above $3 million: $3M–$4M from 3.5% to 4.40%, $4M–$5M from 4.5% to 5.45%, $5M–$10M from 5.5% to 6.50%, $10M–$20M from 6.5% to 7.55%, and above $20M from 7.5% to 8.60%.
10. How much more does that cost?
Nothing at $3 million or below. About $9,000 more at $4M, $18,500 at $5M and $68,500 at $10M.
11. Is land transfer tax financeable?
No. Cash on closing, on top of the down payment.
12. What is it outside Toronto?
Only the provincial tax. On $5,000,000 that is $111,475 in Mississauga, Oakville, Vaughan or Markham — $159,975 less than in Toronto.
13. Do first-time buyer rebates help?
Not meaningfully. $4,000 provincially and $4,475 municipally, requiring the buyer to have never owned a home anywhere.
14. What is the vacant home tax?
3% of Current Value Assessment from the 2024 taxation year. On a property assessed at $3 million, $90,000 a year.
15. Do I have to declare even if I live there?
Yes, every year, for every Toronto residential property. Failing to declare defaults the property to vacant.
16. Is the Underused Housing Tax still around?
No UHT is payable and no returns are required for 2025 and later years, following the 2025 federal budget. Obligations for 2022 to 2024 still stand.
17. Did capital gains rules change?
The proposed inclusion rate increase was cancelled on 21 March 2025; it remains 50%. The principal residence exemption still has no dollar cap. The residential property flipping rule taxes gains on housing units held under 365 consecutive days as business income, with listed life-event exceptions.
18. Does HST apply?
To new or substantially renovated homes from a builder, yes, with no meaningful rebate at luxury prices — the federal rebate phases out at $450,000. Resale homes are generally exempt. Assignments of new housing are taxed on the entire assignment price since 7 May 2022.
Foreign buyers
19. Can a non-Canadian buy?
The federal prohibition is in force until 1 January 2027, with exemptions including permanent residents, qualifying temporary residents, refugees, diplomats, Canadian-controlled corporations, recreational property outside census metropolitan and agglomeration areas, and purchases for development.
20. What taxes apply if exempt?
Ontario NRST at 25% and Toronto MNRST at 10%, effective 1 January 2025, on top of both land transfer taxes.
21. What does that total?
On a $5,000,000 Toronto house: $111,475 + $159,975 + $1,250,000 + $500,000 = $2,021,450.
22. Is there an NRST rebate?
Where the buyer becomes a permanent resident within four years, holds alone or with a spouse, occupies as a principal residence within 60 days, and applies within 90 days of obtaining permanent residence.
23. Does a corporation give privacy?
No. FINTRAC rules require beneficial owners at 25% or more to be identified, plus a third-party determination. Corporate ownership also generally forfeits the principal residence exemption.
Rules and process
24. Is there a cooling-off period?
Not on resale. Ten days on a pre-construction condominium, running from the later of the signed agreement or the disclosure statement. Ten days on new freehold homes under provisions proclaimed effective 1 January 2026.
25. What happens if I do not close?
Deposit entitlement is a civil matter. Ontario courts have generally treated a genuine deposit as forfeited to a non-breaching seller, with limited relief from forfeiture under section 98 of the Courts of Justice Act. A seller may also claim damages beyond the deposit.
26. How much deposit is normal?
No statutory amount. Market practice is roughly 5% to 10%, often at the upper end or beyond at the top of the market. Held in the listing brokerage’s real estate trust account.
27. What is TRESA?
The framework in force since 1 December 2023. You are either a client under a written representation agreement or a self-represented party owed only fairness and honesty. The RECO Information Guide must be provided before any services or assistance.
28. Can a seller disclose competing offers?
With written direction: the number of them, whether the listing brokerage represents any competing buyer, and commission arrangements that could affect acceptance. Not personal or identifying information about competing buyers.
29. What is a holdover clause?
A provision making you liable for commission if the property sells after your listing ends, within a stated period, to a buyer introduced during it. Commonly 60 to 90 days, negotiable, no statutory limit.
30. What does a status certificate cost?
A maximum of $100 including tax, delivered within 10 days.
Land, ravines and heritage
31. What triggers a tree permit?
Any privately owned tree of 30 centimetres trunk diameter or more, under Chapter 813. Fines $500 to $100,000 per tree, plus a possible special fine of up to $100,000 under the City of Toronto Act. Replacement trees maintained two years, or cash in lieu at 120% of replanting plus two years of maintenance.
32. What triggers a ravine permit?
Inside a mapped protected area under Chapter 658: injuring, destroying or removing a tree; placing or dumping fill or refuse; altering the grade of land. Exemptions include dead trees, health pruning, emergencies, fruit trees, and under 5 cubic metres of fill for maintaining existing manicured areas.
33. Does TRCA approval come first?
Yes. Where TRCA jurisdiction applies under O. Reg. 41/24, the City will not issue a building permit until clearance is obtained.
34. Which neighbourhoods are heritage districts?
South Rosedale (2002), North Rosedale (2004), Wychwood Park (1985), Yorkville–Hazelton (2002), East Annex (1994), West Annex Phase 1: Madison Avenue (2015), Teiaiagon–Baby Point. Old Oakville, in Halton, by By-law 1981-144 in October 1981.
35. What does a heritage district restrict?
Exterior alterations, additions and demolition, against an area-wide district plan. Interior work, in-kind repairs, exterior painting and landscaping are typically exempt from a heritage permit.
Condominiums
36. What is happening in the condo market?
Q1 2026: zero new project launches in the GTHA, the first quarter in thirty years with none; 246 new condo sales, down 52% year over year and 94% below the ten-year average; a record 4,295 completed unsold units with 8,629 more unsold under construction; new construction at $1,189 per square foot against $859 in resale, a record 38% gap.
37. Does that apply to luxury condos?
No. In the same period, $3 million-plus core condominium sales were on par with the prior year and $5 million-plus core sales doubled from two to four, one of them above $10 million. They are separate markets that share a property type.
If you take one thing from this page
Every number above is checkable, and the sources are listed below. At this level, the questions worth asking are the ones with numerical answers — how many sold, what the tax is, what the permit costs, what the rule says. Adjectives are what fill the space where those answers are missing.
Frequently asked questions
How many homes sell above $3 million in the GTA?
300 between January and April 2026, down from 361 in the same four months of 2025. Above $5 million there were 62, against 63 a year earlier.
What is land transfer tax on a $5 million Toronto home?
$111,475 in Ontario land transfer tax and $159,975 in Toronto municipal land transfer tax, for a combined $271,450 payable in cash on closing under the rates in force since 1 April 2026.
Is there a cooling-off period in Ontario?
Not on a resale purchase, at any price. There is a 10-day rescission right on a pre-construction condominium under the Condominium Act, and a 10-day right on new freehold homes under Homeowner Protection Act, 2024 amendments proclaimed effective 1 January 2026.
Can a foreign buyer purchase in Toronto in 2026?
The federal prohibition on purchases of residential property by non-Canadians is in force until 1 January 2027, subject to exemptions. Buyers who are exempt but still foreign nationals face Ontario’s 25% NRST and Toronto’s 10% MNRST on top of both land transfer taxes.
What is Toronto’s vacant home tax?
3% of Current Value Assessment from the 2024 taxation year. Every residential property requires an annual declaration of occupancy status; failing to declare defaults the property to vacant, and a false declaration or failure to provide required information carries a penalty of up to $10,000.
Which Toronto neighbourhood has the most luxury sales?
Rosedale and Lawrence Park tied at 20 sales above $3 million each between January and April 2026, followed by Bridle Path–Sunnybrook–York Mills at 14, Forest Hill South at 11 and Kingsway South at 9.
How many luxury condos sell in the Toronto core?
Four condominium units sold above $5 million in the Toronto core between January and April 2026, one of them above $10 million, up from two a year earlier.
What size tree needs a permit in Toronto?
Any privately owned tree with a trunk diameter of 30 centimetres or more, under Municipal Code Chapter 813. Fines run from $500 to $100,000 per tree.
What is the most expensive home sold in Toronto?
The largest publicly reported GTA transaction of 2025 was $27,325,000 for 20 and 22 Park Lane Circle, two adjoining properties sold together. In 2026, a Forest Hill South home sold for $23,500,000 on 26 August.
Did the capital gains inclusion rate go up?
No. The proposed increase from one half to two thirds was cancelled on 21 March 2025. The inclusion rate remains 50%, and the principal residence exemption still has no dollar cap.
Thinking about buying or selling at the top end?
Send me the address, or the shortlist you are considering. I will tell you what the property is actually worth today, what the land is worth without the house, what the transfer tax and carrying costs will be, and whether the deal makes sense. Confidential, always.
connect@jatindua.com · 437-987-1925 · Book a free consultation
Confidential. Read personally and answered within 24 hours. I never share, sell or distribute your information.
Related reading
- Toronto luxury real estate in 2026: what the numbers actually say
- Buying a luxury house in Toronto: the complete 2026 guide
- Selling a luxury home in Toronto: the complete 2026 playbook
- Land transfer tax on a luxury home in Toronto: the full 2026 numbers
- Toronto’s luxury neighbourhoods compared
- Free AI home valuation for Toronto and the GTA
Sources
Everything above that is a rule, a rate or a published number comes from these. Verify anything that matters to your own deal.
- Toronto Regional Real Estate Board — Market Watch, August 2026
- RE/MAX Canada — 2026 Spotlight on Luxury Real Estate, Greater Toronto
- Real Estate Magazine — Q1 2026 condominium market (Urbanation data)
- City of Toronto — Municipal Land Transfer Tax rates and fees
- Government of Ontario — Calculating land transfer tax
- Government of Ontario — Non-Resident Speculation Tax
- Government of Canada — Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act
- City of Toronto — Vacant Home Tax
- City of Toronto — Municipal Code Chapter 813, Trees
- City of Toronto — Municipal Code Chapter 658, Ravine and Natural Feature Protection
- RECO — About open offers
- Condominium Authority of Ontario — Status certificates
About the author — Jatin Dua, Broker of Record
I’m the Broker of Record at RE/MAX Quantum Realty, 799 The Queensway in Etobicoke, and I work with buyers, sellers and investors across Toronto and the west GTA. A large part of my work sits in the upper end of the market, where the comparables are thin, the rules are heavier and the cost of a wrong number is measured in hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The free estimators on this site are mine. I built them because the first question every owner asks is “what is it worth?” and the honest answer starts with a number you can check yourself. connect@jatindua.com or 437-987-1925.